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A  TREATISE  ? 


ARTIFICIAL  PROPAGATION 


OF 


FISH, 


DESCRIPTION  AND  HABITS  OF  SUCH  KINDS  AS  ARE  THE 
MOST  SUITABLE  FOR  PISCICULTURE, 


DIRECTIONS    KOU   THK   MOST  OCOOC8SI1IL   MODES  OK   AXGUN'O    FOR   SUCH    KIN'Dd 
OK   KISH   AS  ARK   HERKIX   DESCRIBED. 


THEODATUS     GARLICK,     M.    D . , 


NEW   YORK: 
A.  0.  MOORE,  AGRICULTURAL   BOOK    PUBLISHER, 

XO.  140  FULTON  STREET. 
1858. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  18uO. 

Bv  THEODATUS  GARLICK,  M.  !>., 
lu  the  Cierk's  Office  of  tho  Northern  District  of  Ohio. 


*    ^ 

CONTENTS. 


Introduction, .r PAGE. 

Artiiicial  Propagation  of  certain  kinds  of  Fish, 17 

Treatment  of  the  Eggs  after  fecundation, 22 

Transportation  of  the  Eggs, 28 

Transportation  of  Fish, 33 

Report  on  Artificial  Fish  Culture,  by  M.  Milne  Edwards, 35 

Report  on  Artificial  Fish  Culture,  by  M.  Costa, .......' 55 

Comment, 67 

Growth  of  Fish, '.<: 70 

The  Construction  of  Ponds, .*.....'.   74 

Urook,  or  |peckled  Trout, 80 

Grystes  Nigricans  ;  or  Blaolt  Bass, 105 

1  Grystes  Megastoma  ;  or,  Large-Mouth  Black  Bass, 108 

Labrax  Mtiltilineatus— White'Bass,  sometimes  called  Whfe  Perch .  Ill 

Centrarchus  Hexacanthus — Grass  Bass — Roach, •. 113 

Centrarchus  JSneus — Rock  Bass, -. ..116 

Common  Pickerel— Jilsox  Reticulatus, ?..... t. ». ...  118 

J                             * 
Perca  Flavescens — Yellow  Perch, ' 121 

Pomotis  Vulgaris— Sun  Fish, 7.  ^  .mf. .  123 

Anguilla   Auctonfm— Eel, .^. i-T^.  .  125 

Conclusion, . .        I •. r  . . .  129 

Appendix ? 135 

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PREFACE. 


I  WAS  induced  to  prepare  these  articles  on  Fish  Culture,  for 
the  Ohio  Farmer,  with  the  ulterior  object  of  publishing  them 
at  some  future  time  in  a  collected  form,  which  I  have  now 
done,  believing  that  as  yet  there  has  not  been  any  work 
on  this  subject,  that  fully  meets  the  wants  of  the  American 
public. 

That  there  is  a  great  interest  felt  in  America  on  the 
subject,  I  am  satisfied,  from  the  fact  that  I  have  received 
numerous  letters  of  inquiry  from  persons  residing  in  almost 
every  State  in  the  Union. 

I  have  read  with  great  satisfaction,  a  work  edited  and  trans- 
lated by  William  H.  Fry.  The  work  is  valuable  for  the  rea* 
son  that  it  gives  a  detailed  history  of  the  progress  that  Fish 
Culture  has  made  in  Europe  ;  besides  much  information 
that  is  valuable  in  a  practical  point  of  view.  I  am  of  the 
opinion,  however,  that  whoever  reads  it,  will  agree  with  me, 
that  it  is  deficient  in  some  important  points,  and  is  adapted, 
rather  to  a  European  than  to  an  American  public.  One  objec- 
tion, and  in  my  opinion  a  very  material  one,  is,  that  with  the 
exception  of  the  Salmo  Salar,  the  habits  of  not  a  single  Ameri- 
can fish  are  given. 

I  do  not  wish  however  to  be  understood,  that  the  objections 
mentioned,  render  the  work  valueless,  but,  on  the  contrary. 
that  it  really  possesses  great  merit,  and  I  most  cheerful! v 
recommend  it  to  every  one  who  feels  an  interest  in  this  de- 
partment of  human  knowledge. 


6  PREFACE. 

I  shall  endeavor  in  this  volume  to  present  the  reader,  with 
not  only  a  complete  description  of  such  American  fishes,  as  are 
best  suited  by  their  qualities  and  habits  for  artificial  propaga- 
tion and  culture,  but  the  best  methods  of  propagating  and  rear- 
ing them ;  together  with  the  most  appropriate  kinds  of  water, 
for  each  kind  described. 

The  writer  hopes  to  aid  in  awakening  a  sufficient  degree  of 
interest,  to  induce  our  Legislative  bodies  to  enact  such  laws,  as 
will  at  least  protect  those  who  are  desirous  of  engaging  in  this 
interesting  branch  of  industry. 


INTRODUCTION. 


HEAD  BEFORE  THE  CLEVELAND  ACADEMY  OF  NATURAL  SCIENCE, 
FEBRUARY  17iH,  1854, 

BY    THEODATUS    GARLICK,    M.    D. 


THE  successful  experiments  of  Messrs.  Remy 
and  Gehin,  of  France,  in  the  artificial  re-pro- 
duction of  certain  kinds  of  fish,  will  without 
doubt,  be  repeatedly  made  in  this  and  other 
countries,  and  with  the  same  satisfactory  re- 
sults. 

The  immense  advantages  resulting  from  this 
discovery,  particularly,  in  countries  abounding 
with  such  a  variety  and  extent  of  inland  waters 
as  our  own,  can  hardly  be  estimated. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  last  year,  Prof.  H.  A. 
Ackley  and  myself  determined  to  make  the  ex- 
periment of  artificially  breeding  fish.  After 
.some  deliberation,  we  determined  to  select  the 
speckled  trout,  (Salmo  fontinalls)  for  our  first 
experiment.  Accordingly,  in  the  month  of  Au- 
gust last,  I  started  for  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie, 
with  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  parent  fish, 
while  Prof.  Ackley  was  preparing  a  suitable 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

place  for  their  reception,  by  building  a  dam 
across  a  very  fine,  large  spring  of  water  on  his 
farm,  some  two  miles  from  this  city. 

There  was  no  difficulty  in  capturing  as  many 
as  I  desired,  but  it  was  quite  another  kind  of 
sport  to  transport  them  alive  a  distance  of  near 
six  hundred  miles.  After  various  vexations, 
among  which  was  the  loss  of  the  first  ship- 
ment, we  succeeded  in  getting  down  three  lots, 
in  all  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  in  fine  con- 
dition, and  lodged  them  safely  in  their  new 
home,  where  they  seemed  as  happy  and  as 
sportive  as  they  were  in  the  beautiful  blue 
waters  of  Lake  Superior. 

In  the  month  of  September  I  made  a  trip 
to  Port  Stanley,  Canada,  for  another  lot,  and 
succeeded  •  in  getting  home  about  forty  more 
specimens,  constituting  certainly  a  very  fair  be- 
ginning to  our  enterprise. 

We  did  not,  however,  expect  to  rear  any 
young  fish  this  season,  for  we  supposed  the 
vicissitudes  they  were  subjected  to,  such  as 
their  transportation,  etc.,  would  prevent  them 
from  depositing  their  eggs,  but  in  this  we  were 
most  agreeably  disappointed,  for  on  the  15th  of 
November  we  discovered  unmistakable  evidences 
that  they  were  about  to  engage  in  this  inter- 
esting process. 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

Several  male  trout  had  proceeded  up  the 
stream,  and  commenced  preparing  the  beds  in 
which  ,  the  eggs  were  to  be  deposited.  This  was 
done  by  removing  all  the  sediment  and  sand 
from  certain  gravelly  locations.  These  beds 
were  about  one  foot  in  diameter,  consisting  of 
coarse  and  fine  pebbles,  the  spaces  or  inter- 
stices between  which  were  to  be  the  future 
depository  for  the  eggs.  This  peculiar  con- 
struction of  their  beds,  or  nests,  is  highly  es- 
sential to  their  preservation,  as  it  protects  them 
from  being  washed  away  by  freshets,  also  from 
being  devoured  by  small  fish  which  are  always 
prowling  about  seeking  them  for  food. 

The  male  trout  at  this  time  was  very  beau- 
tiful, being  decked  out  in  the  most  gaudy  colors 
imaginable,  and  his  actions  showed  clearly  enough 
that  he  was  quite  vain  of  his  personal  appear- 
ance. 

In  the  course  of  five  days,  the  females  made 
their  appearance.  They  were  not  near  so  gaudy 
in  their  dress,  but  had  a  most  staid  and  ma- 
tronly look. 

The  next  step  was  choosing  their  mates. 
After  the  usual  amount  of  flattering  attentions 
to  the  females,  with  which  they  seemed  highly 
delighted,  and  some  battles  among  the  males, 
this  important  matter  was  apparently  settled  to 


IQ  INTRODUCTION. 

the  satisfaction  of  all  parties.  By  what  princi- 
ples they  were  governed  in  making  their  selec- 
tions I  was  unable  to  determine,  but  presume 
in  this  respect  they  are  like  men,  governed 
more  by  fancy  than  judgment. 

Our  trout  were  from  four  to  six  weeks  later 
than  their  usual  time  in  depositing  their  eggs, 
owing,  no  doubt,  to  the  vicissitudes  incident  to 
transportation,  change  of  water,  etc. 

On  the  20th  November  they  had  fairly  com- 
menced operations,  one  pair  of  fish  occupying 
each  bed  :  the  male  manifesting  the  utmost  jeal- 
ousy, and  if  any  suspicious  interloper  approached, 
he  was  instantaneously  attacked  and  driven  off. 
On  the  21st,  I  captured  a  pair  by  means  of  a 
landing  net,  and  placed  them  in  a  bucket  of 
water,  and  being  provided  with  an  earthen  ves- 
sel, I  made  my  first  attempt  at  artificially 
spawning  and  impregnating  the  eggs.  This  was 
accomplished  as  follows  : 

I  partially  filled  the  earthen  vessel  with 
water,  and  taking  the  female  in  my  left  hand, 
and  making  gentle  pressure  on  her  abdomen 
with  my  right,  the  eggs  were  forced  into  the 
earthen  vessel  containing  the  water  ;  the  male 
was  treated  in  precisely  the  same  manner,  forc- 
ing the  spermatic  fluid  into  the  same  vessel  ; 
the  appearance  of  the  eggs  was  almost  in- 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

stantly  changed  from  their  bright  golden  orange 
color,  to  a  pale  transparent  yellow  ;  they  were 
then  placed  in  running  water  with  the  vessel 
containing  them. 

On  the  9th  of  January  one  of  the  eggs  was 
placed  under  one  of  Dr.  Goadby's  microscopes. 
(The  Dr.  was  at  the  time  giving  a  course  of 
lectures  in  this  city.)  Its  appearance  delighted 
the  company  of  scientific  gentlemen  present,  as 
well  as  myself.  The  egg  was  filled  with  a 
countless  number  of  cells,  of  different  sizes, 
with  traces  of  blood  vessels  ;  the  eyes  also 
being  perceptible. 

On  the  22d  of  January  we  examined  them 
again,  and  to  our  joy,  we  found  a  young  fish, 
which  had  just  left  its  narrow  place  of  con- 
finement, to  try  its  new  mode  of  existence  ;  it 
was  very  lively  in  its  motions,  but  could  not 
be  considered  an  expert  swimmer,  owing  to  an 
appendage  to  its  abdomen,  of  nearly  the  size 
of  the  egg,  which  in  fact  it  was,  and  contained 
the  material  for  the  further  development  of  the 
yet  very  imperfect  fish  ;  this  sack  was  filled 
with  a  multitude  of  minute  cells,  whose  ab- 
sorption keeps  pace  with  the  development  of 
the  fish.  When  the  young  fish  leaves  its  egg, 
it  measures  about  half  an  inch  in  length.  The 
heart,  with  the  principal  blood  vessels,  and  even 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

the  corpuscles  of  blood,  are  beautifully  shown 
with  a  microscope  of  moderate  power.  Their 
external  appearance  is  remarkable.  The  eyes 
are  large  and  quite  well  developed  ;  the  pec- 
toral fins  are  also  in  an  advanced  stage  of  de- 
velopment, and  in  constant  and  rapid  motion, 
which  I  think,  in  the  more  advanced  stage  of 
the  fish,  has  something  to  do  with  its  respira- 
tion, as  they  are  placed  near  the  opening  of 
the  gill  covers.  The  other  portions  of  the  fish 
are  quite  rudimentary,  no  other  fins  being  per- 
ceptible, but  in  their  place  there  is  an  attenu- 
ated, margin,  or  finlike  substance,  as  on  the  tail 
of  the  tadpole,  commencing  where  the  dorsal 
fin  should  be,  and  continuing  uninterruptedly 
around  the  caudal,  and  terminating  with  the 
anal  fin,  or  rather  where  it  should  be. 

This  finlike  substance  undergoes  a  constant 
change  as  the  fish  grows  older.  At  fourteen 
days  the  dorsal,  adipose,  caudal  and  anal  fins 
are  plainly  seen,  but  as  yet  none  of  them  have 
rays,  except  the  caudal,  in  which  they  are  very 
distinct.  The  rays  of  the  caudal  fin  are  first 
apparent  at  the  center,  although  the  general 
form  of  the  rudimentary  tail  is  very  unsymmet- 
rical,  the  superior  lobe  being  the  larger,  and 
the  outline  not  unlike  that  of  the  tails  of  many 
heterocercal  fishes.  At  this  age  the  fish  has 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

more  than  doubled  its  former  length,  the  mouth, 
gills  and  abdominal  viscera  are  visible,  and  it 
manifests  a  desire  to  take  food,  by  nibbling  at 
the  unhatched  eggs,  and  pieces  of  meat  placed 
in  the  vessel  containing  them.  Its  color  is  now 
materially  changed,  being  of  darkish  gray  on  its 
back  and  upper  portions  of  its  side.  The  sack 
suspended  from  the  abdomen  at  this  time  be- 
comes smaller,  and  less  globular  in  form,  being 
more  contracted  anteriorly  than  posteriorly.  The 
habits  of  the  little  creature  are  also  much 
changed,  as  it  now  swims  smartly,  and  endeav- 
ors to  hide  itself  when  disturbed. 

Owing  to  imperfections  in  our  arrangements 
where  we  placed  the  eggs  for  hatching^  accumu- 
lations of  sediment  buried  them  up,  destroying 
them  by  hundreds;  this  accumulation  was  much 
more  fatal  when  the  embryo  fish  was  nearly 
ready  to  make  its  exit  from  the  egg.  To  avoid 
their  further  destruction,  on  the  26th  of  January 
we  brought  the  remaining  eggs  to  our  office, 
and  placed  them  in  a  glass  jar,  and  supplied 
them,  and  the  young  fish,  daily  with  fresh  water. 
In  this  situation  they  have  remained  until  the 
present  time,  the  young  fish  making  their  ap- 
pearance from  day  to  day,  the  last  one  ruptur- 
ing its  oval  envelope  on  the  10th  day  of  Feb- 
ruary. I  have  seen  as  many  as  six  make  their 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

appearance  in  as  many  minutes.  The  tempera- 
ture of  the  water  at  the  spring  was  42  °  Fah- 
renheit. Since  they  were  brought  to  the  office 
the  water  in  which  they  have  been  kept  has 
varied  from  42°  to  50°. 

This  experiment  has  afforded  us  one  of  the 
finest  opportunities  to  be  desired  for  the  study 
of  embryology,  but  professional  duties  have 
prevented  us  from  making  as  minute  observa- 
tion as  we  could  have  wished.  We  have,  how- 
ever, repeatedly  and  distinctly  seen  the  blood 
corpuscles  in  the  returning  veins  enter  the 
auricle  of  the  heart  and  then  pass  into  the 
ventricle,  and  from  thence  into  the  aorta. 
Altogether,  it  has  afforded  us  one  of  the  most 
pleasing  and  instructive  lessons  in  the  early 
stages  of  animal  existence  that  we  have  ever 
had,  and  I  hope  that  some  person  of  more 
accurate  powers  of  observation,  and  having  more 
leisure,  will  avail  himself  of  these  facilities 
which  are  within  the  reach  of  every  man,  and 
give  to  the  world  a  more  extended  statement 
of  facts  than  I  have  been  able  to  do. 

Another  fact,  in  which  all  are  interested,  has 
been  clearly  demonstrated.  Any  one  who  may 
be  so  fortunate  as  to  possess  a  spring  of  water 
of  moderate  size  can  rear  this  charming  fish  in 
great  numbers,  and  the  streams  that  have  been 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

depopulated  by  the  untiring  zeal  of  the  angler, 
can  be  replenished  with  little  trouble  and  at  a 
small  expense.  Such  streams  as  are  not  suited 
to  the  trout  can  be  stocked  with  other  choice 
varieties  of  fish  with  the  same  ease. 

The  number  of  eggs  produced  by  a  single 
female  trout  in  one  season  has  been  variously 
stated  by  different  writers,  but  it  is  a  moderate 
statement  to  say  that  it  is  many  hundreds. 

A  word  to  those  who  wish  to  make  the 
experiment,  and  I  have  done.  The  attempt 
should  only  be  made  when  the  eggs  are  mature  ; 
to  be  secure  in  this,  it  will  be  best  for  the 
beginner  to  take  the  parent  fish  when  they 
are  engaged  in  depositing  the  eggs.  After  the 
eggs  are  forced  into  the  vessel  containing  the 
water,  they  should  be  stirred  about  a  little,  the 
water  poured  off,  and  the  vessel  filled  again 
before  the  spermatic  fluid  is  added,  after  which 
the  water  should  be  a  second  time  agitated,  in 
order  that  it  may  come  in  contact  with,  all  the 
eggs;  this  is  necessary  to  the  impregnation  of 
all  of  them.  They  should  then  be  placed 
where  they  can  have  running  water  passing  con- 
stantly over  them.  This  may  be  done  by  hav- 
ing a  series  of  boxes  partly  filled  with  coarse 
sand  and  gravel,  each  placed  bejow  the  other 
in  the  form  of  a  stairway,  the  water  passing 


16  INTRODUCTION. 

from  the  first  box  to  the  second  and  so  on. 
It  would  also  be  well  to  have  the  bottoms  of 
the  boxes  pierced  with  small  holes  in  order  to 
prevent  the  sediment  from  accumulating,  which 
is  very  destructive  to  the  eggs. 

These  general  rules,   if  followed,  will   be  sure 
to   crown  the   eifort  with   success. 


CHAPTER   I. 

ARTIFICIAL    PROPAGATION    OF    CERTAIN    KINDS    OF    FISH. 

SHORTLY  after  the  discoveries  of  Messrs.  Remy  & 
Gehen  had  been  communicated  to  the  French  Acad- 
emy of  Sciences  at  Paris,  by  Dr.  Haxo,  the  French 
Government,  viewing  the  discoveries  in  a  favorable 
light,  appropriated  thirty  thousand  francs,  ($6,000,) 
and  appointed  a  committee  consisting  of  two  per- 
sons, namely  Messrs.  Berthot  &  Detzem — engineers 
of  the  Rhine  and  Rhone  canal — to  erect  a  Govern- 
ment establishment  for  the  artificial  culture  of  fish 
at  Huningen.  The  establishment  did  not  go  into 
operation  until  1852,  some  three  years  after  the  dis- 
covery. 

The  establishment,  during  the  first  six  months 
of  its  operation,  produced  by  artificial  fecundation 
over  a  million  and  a  half  of  living  fish,  of  which 
about  six  hundred  thousand  were  trout  and  salmon. 

With  these  facts  before  us,  it  should  not  be  sur- 
prising that  the  subject  is  attracting  the  attention 
of  some  of  the  best  minds  in  our  own  country; 
more  especially  when  we  consider  the  impoverished 
condition  of  our  rivers  and  streams,  many  of  which 
are  susceptible  of  being  inhabited  by  innumerable 
salmon  and  trout,  and  since  a  replenishment  is 
now  no  longer  problematical. 
1 


18  ARTIFICIAL,    PROPAGATION 

The  following  directions,  if  strictly  adhered  to, 
will  be  crowned  with  success  in  the  hands  of  any 
one: 

The  eggs  of  fish  are  not  sufficiently  matured 
to  be  successfully  impregnated  until  the  fish  is  en- 
gaged in  depositing  the  eggs;  therefore  no  attempt 
should  be  made  to  extrude  the  eggs  artificially 
until  the  fish  has  been  &een  or  known  to  deposit 
them;  but  they  should  be  extruded  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible after  the  fish  has  commenced  depositing  them, 
for  the  reason  that  more  eggs  can  be  secured. 

The  parent  fish  should  be  taken  with  nets 
while  on  their  spawning  beds ;  the  size  of  the  nets 
will,  as  a  matter  of  course,  depend  upon  the  size  of 
the  stream,  or  other  waters,  where  the  fish  are 
engaged  in  spawning — for  small  trout  streams  the 
common  landing  net  of  the  angler  is  sufficiently 
large. 

After  one  or  more  pairs  of  fish  are  thus  taken, 
they  should  be  placed  in  a  tub  or  bucket  of  water; 
the  female  is  then  to  be  held  in  the  left  hand,  and  a 
gentle  pressure  made  with  the  right  hand  upon  her 
abdomen.  At  the  time  of  the  pressure,  the  right 
hand  should  be  carried  downward;  if  the  eggs  are 
mature,  they  will  flow  from  the  fish  with  a  very 
slight  pressure,  and  are  to  be  received  in  an  earthen 
vessel  partly  filled  with  clean  water;  then  treat 
the  male  fish  in  precisely  the  same  manner.  The 


OF    CERTAIN    KINDS    OF    FISH.  19 

spermatic  fluid  from  the  male  being  received  into 
the  vessel  containing  the  water  and  eggs,  the  eggs 
should  then  be  stirred  about  very  freely  in  the 
water,  and  suffered  to  remain  ten  or  fifteen  minutes, 
when  the  water  should  again  be  changed,  and  after 
a  short  time  this  change  should  again  be  repeated. 
It  is  thought  by  some  persons,  that  the  eggs  should 
be  stirred  or  rinsed,  and  the  water  changed  .before 
the  spermatic  fluid  is  added.  The  precaution,  I 
think  is  a  good  one,  as  it  s-erves  to  remove  any 
mucus,  with  which  the  eggs  are  more  or  less, 
covered,  and  which  to  some  extent  may  prevent  a 
perfect  contact  of  the  sperm  with  them. 

A  very  small  portion  of  the  spermatic  fluid  is 
sufficient  to  impregnate  the  eggs  of  one  female;  in, 
fact,  the  sperm  of  one  male  is  sufficient  to  impreg- 
nate the  eggs  of  half  a  dozen  females. 

I  have  recently  read  an  extract  from  a  foreign 
journal,  which  stated  that  Dr.  Robertson,  of  Dun- 
keld,  (Scotland,  I  suppose,)  denies  that  the  eggs 
are  impregnated  after  they  are  extruded  from  the 
female,  but  contends  that  they  are  impregnated 
previous  to  their  development  within  the  body  of 
the  fish.  If  actual  observation  or  experiment  con- 
firms this  statement,  there  will  be  no  necessity  of 
obtaining  the  sperm  or  milt  of  the  male  fish, 
which  at  present  is  considered  indispensable.  I 
cannot  give  my  assent  to  this  statement,  for  the 


20  ARTIFICIAL    PROPAGATION 

following  reason,  namely:  If  the  ova,  or  eggs,  are 
impregnated  previous  to  their  development,  why 
is  it  that  the  spermatic  fluid  is  so  abundant  in 
the  male  just  at  the  time  of  spawning,  and  not 
at  any  other?  At  any  other  period  than  that  of 
spawning,  this  secretion  is  so  limited  that  it  can 
be  extracted  only  with  great  dificulty,  even  by 
very  hard  pressure.  In  a  series  of  experiments 
with  trout  conducted  last  fall,  by  myself,  I  failed 
to  impregnate  well  developed  eggs,  which  I  knew 
were  mature,  by  using  a  premature  male. 


The  above  cut  will  convey  a  sufficiently  correct 
idea  of  the  manner  of  extracting  both  the  eggs,  and 
spermatic  fluid  from  the  living  fish. 


OF    CERTAIN    KINDS    OF    FISH.  21 

Prof.  Ackley  claims  that  the  muscalonge  actu- 
ally copulates,  and  extrudes  a  limited  number  of 
eggs  after  each  copulation.  Having  never  had  an 
opportunity  of  observing  the  habits  of  this  fish, 
while  engaged  in  spawning,  I  am  unable  to  give 
an  opinion  respecting  it. 


CHAPTER  II. 

TREATMENT  OF  THE  EGGS  AFTER  FECUNDATION. 

AFTER  the  eggs,  or  ova,  have  been  procured, 
as  described  in  the  preceding  chapter,  they  should 
then  at  once  be  removed  to  a  suitable  place  for 
incubation.  For  this  purpose,  different  plans  have 
been  adopted,  yet  all  of  them  are  essentially  the 
same. 

The  plan  adopted  by  Prof.  Ackley  and  myself, 
and  which  we  find  to  answer  the  purpose  in  every 
respect,  is  as  follows : 

At  the  head  of  a  spring  we  built  a  house, 
eight  feet  in  width  by  twelve  feet  in  length.  We 
placed  a  tank,  made  of  two-inch  plank,  four  feet 
wide  by  eight  feet  long,  and  two  feet  deep,  in 
the  end  of  the  building  nearest  the  bank.  The 
water  from  the  spring  enters  the  tank  through  a 
hole  near  the  top,  and  escapes  through  a  similar 
hole  at  the  other  end,  from  whence  it  is  received 
into  a  series  of  ten  successive  boxes.  These 
boxes  are  eighteen  inchds  long,  eight  inches  wide, 
and  six  inches  deep,  and  are  so  arranged  that  the 
first  is  much  higher  in  the  series  than  the  last 
one.  They  must  be  filled  with  clean  sand  and 


TREATMENT  OP  THE  EGGS  AFTER  FECUNDATION.    23 

gravel  to  the  depth  of  about  two  inches,  the  sand 
being  placed  at  the  bottom.  The  impregnated 
eggs  are  to  be  scattered  over  and  among  the 
gravel,  care  being  taken  not  to  have  them  in  piles 
or  masses. 

The  boxes  should  be  carefully  examined  every 
few  days  after  the  eggs  have  been  deposited  in 
them,  and  all  the  eggs  which  have  lost  their 
vitality  should  at  once  be  removed. '  This  may  be 
effected  with  a  pair  of  forceps  made  of  wire,  the 
jaws  of  which  should  be  flattened  a  little,  in 
order  to  seize  the  egg  with  greater  facility.  The 
eggs  which  have  lost  their  vitality  may  very 
readily  be  distinguished  from  the  others  by  their 
whiteness. 

£  It  is  very  desirable  that  pure,  clear  water 
should  be  used,  in  order  to  avoid  a  deposition  of 
sediment,  which  is  very  destructive  to  the  eggs, 
especially  toward  the  close  of  the  term  of  incu- 
bation. When  sediment  is  found  to  be  accumu- 
lating, the  water  should  be  agitated  with  a  goose- 
quill,  or  soft  brush,  moving  the  quill  or  brush 
briskly  about  in  the  water,  and  then  suffer  it  to 
run  off.  Repeat  this  process  until  the  water  is 
free  from  sediment,  and  runs  off  clear;  or,  the 
eggs  may  be  removed  into  a  vessel  filled  with 
clean  water,  with  a  skimmer,  there  to  remain 
while  the  boxes  are  being  cleansed. 


> 


24:  TREATMENT  OF  THE  EGGS 

The  hatching  boxes  should  be  grated  on  that 
side  from  which  the  water  escapes,  with  wire 
cloth,  the  meshes  of  which  should  be  sufficiently 
fine  to  prevent  the  eggs,  or  the  young  fish,  when 
they  make  their  appearance,  from  passing  out. 

A  very  neat  and  convenient  hatching  apparatus 
is  the  flat  wicker  basket,  the  interstices  of  which 
are  fine  enough  to  prevent  the  eggs  from  passing 
through;  these  baskets  are  to  be  placed  in  run- 
ning water.  Care,  however,  must  be  taken,  as  well 
as  with  all  other  apparatus^  for  the  same  purpose, 
that  a  place  be  selected  where  the  current  of  the 
water  is  not  so  rapid  as  to  wash  or  pile  the  eggs 
up  in  the  end  opposite  to  where  the  water  enters. 
Whenever  the  baskets  become  foul,  by  sediment 
or  vegetable  matter,  the  eggs  can  be  transferred 
to  a  clean  one,  and  the  basket  cleansed. 

A  conduit,  or  flume,  must  be  constructed,  of 
plank  or  boards,  to  contain  a  sufficient  depth  of 
water,  in  which  the  baskets  are  to  be  placed. 
The  utmost  cleanliness  is  absolutely  necessary, 
during  the  whole  time  of  incubation;  it  is  one  of 
the  essentials  to  insure  success. 

The  method  adopted  by  Gehen  &  Remy  was, 
to  place  the  eggs  in  zinc  boxes,  of  about  one  foot 
diameter,  with  a  lid  or  cover  on  them,  and  the 
sides  of  each  box  were  pierced  full  of  small  holes, 
care  being  taken  to  have  the  edges  of  the  holes 


AFTER    FECUNDATION. 


25 


very  smooth.  These  boxes  were  then  partly  filled 
with  sand  and  gravel,  and  placed  in  running 
water.  They  partially  buried  the  boxes  in  the 
gravelly  bottom  of  the  streams,  and  there  exam- 
ined them  from  time  to  time.  Fig.  1  represents 
one  of  these  boxes. 


1.     REMY'S  Box. 


The  plan  adopted  by  M.  Costa,  at  the  College 
of  France  is  to  arrange  several  parallel  boxes,  in 
the  form  of  steps,  on  each  side  of  the  principal 
one,  which  is  placed  at  the  top  of  the  series,  from 
which  all  the  others  are  supplied  with  water,  the 
top  one  being  supplied  from  a  fountain,  and  the 
supply  of  water  being  regulated  by  a  stop-cock. 


26  TREATMENT  OF  THE  EGGS 

In  this  case,  the  eggs  are  placed  on  willow  hur- 
dles, instead  of  gravel.  Fig.  2  represents  the 
hatching  apparatus  adopted  hy  Mr.  Costa. 


FIG.  2. 


M.  COSTA'S  HATCHING  APPARATUS. 

'j      . 

A,  parallel  boxes,  in  which  are  placed  the  willow  hurdles,  and 
upon  which  latter  the  eggs  are  placed.  B,  stop-cock,  from  which 
water  ia  siipplied. 

Another,  and  yet  more  simple  plan  is  shown 
hy  Fig.  3.  This  apparatus  may  be  set  up  in  one's 
house;  the  water  being  supplied  to  the  reservoir 
B  from  time  to  time.  A  cast,  or  barrel,  or  any- 
thing which  will  answer  the  purpose  of  a  reser- 
voir. The  box  in  which  the  eggs  are  placed  is 
represented  at  A.  The  waste  water  flows  into  a 
tub  or  bucket  C. 


AFTER   FECUNDATION. 


27 


FIG.  3. 

Whatever  plan  may  be  adopted,  great  care  and 
watchfulness  are  essentially  necessary  to  insure 
success.  A  vegetable  parasite,  termed  by  natu- 
ralists byssusj  frequently  attaches  itself  to  the 
eggs,  and  destroys  them.  The  best  way  to  remedy 
this  evil  is  to  remove  very  carefully  all  the  eggs 
that  are  free  from  the  parasite,  and  throw  those 
away  which  have  been  attacked,  and  at  the  same 
time  thoroughly  cleanse  the  boxes  or  baskets. 


CHAPTER    III. 

TRANSPORTATION    OF    THE    EGGS. 

COLLECTING  and  transporting  fish  eggs  is  at 
present,  and  has  been  for  centuries  past,  a  dis- 
tinct, as  well  as  an  important  branch  of  commerce 
in  China. 

This  branch  of  industry  was  specially  pro- 
tected, and  on  an  extensive  scale,  by  the  ancient 
Roman  Government.  Stocking  rivers  and  lakes 
with  a  great  variety  of  fishes  was  regarded  as  a 
measure  of  public  utility. 

The  practicability  of  transporting  the  fecun- 
dated eggs  of  fishes  to  great  distances  has  been 
amply  proven  by  experience. 

It  is  true  that  there  are  some  kinds  of  fish 
whose  eggs  hatch  in  so  brief  a  period  of  time 
that  they  cannot  be  kept  many  days  in  an  unfa- 
vorable condition,  or  one  in  which  the  process  of 
incubation  would  be  arrested.  The  eggs  of  the 
pike,  for  example,  hatch  in  ten  to  twenty  days; 
but  the  eggs  of  all  the  different  species  of  salmon 
require  such  a  comparatively  great  length  of  time 


TRANSPORTATION   OF  THE  EGGS.  29 

to  complete  the  process  of  incubation,  that  they 
may  be  safely  conveyed  from  one  end  of  our 
country  to  the  other.  I  had  intended  to  send 
some  eggs  of  the  brook  trout  (salmo  fontinalis)  to 
France  last  fall,  and  to  obtain  some  European 
species  in  exchange;  unforeseen  obstacles  pre- 
vented me  from  so  doing,  but  this  year  I  expect 
to  consummate  this  exchange. 

Various  methods  have  been  adopted  -by  dif- 
ferent individuals  for  the  transportation  of  the 
fish  eggs.  Gehen  &  Kemy  procured  tin  boxes, 
pierced  with  small  holes;  in  these  they  put  first 
a  layer  of  wet  sand,  about  half  an  inch  deep, 
then  on  this  sand  a  layer  of  pebbles,  about  the 
size  of  playing  marbles;  in  the  interstices  of 
these  pebbles  they  placed  the  eggs;  next  they 
put  in  another  tier  of  pebbles,  and  again  filled 
the  interstices  with  pebbles,  and  so  on,  until  the 
box  was  filled.  ,  .» 

M.  Costa,  whose  experience  and  observations 
give  great  weight  to  his  opinions,  objects  to  this 
method,  for  the  reason  that,  in  consequence  of 
the  perforations,  the  box  becomes  dry,  and  while 
the  box  is  in  transition  from  one  place  to  another 
it  will  necessarily  be  more  or  less  jolted  and 
jarred,  and  the  weight  and  motion  of  the  pebbles 
will  crush  and  destroy  the  eggs.  He  advises  the 
following  method,  which,  perhaps,  is  the  best  one 


30  TRANSPORTATION   OF  THE   EGGS. 

known   at   present,  and   is   the    one   which  I  have 
adopted,  namely: 

Discard  the  pebbles  altogether,  and  take  clean, 
fine,  wet  sand,  in  boxes  devoid  of  holes.  Spread 
the  sand  on  the  bottom  of  the  box;  on  this  sand 
place  a  layer  of  eggs,  at  the  same  time  being  very 
careful  not  to  permit  the  eggs  to  touch  each 
other;  then  over  these  eggs  spread  another  layer 
of  sand,  and  then,  another  layer  of  eggs,  and  so 
on  alternately  until  the  box  is  rilled,  so  that  the 
lid  presses  on  the  sand;  this  will  prevent  any 
motion  of  the  contents  of  the  box.  The  box, 
with  the  contents,  but  the  lid  removed,  should 
then  be  dipped  in  clean  water,  for  the  purpose  of 
having  the  sand  thoroughly  saturated;  after  this 
has  been  accomplished,  the  lid  may  be  fastened 
down. 

The  boxes  should  be  kept  in  a  low  tempera- 
ture— not  so  low  as  the  freezing  point,  however. 
The  boxes  which  I  use  are  made  of  tin,  and  in 
size  are  .about  five  inches  in  length,  the  same  in 
breadth,  and  about  four  inches  deep.  The  boxes 
used  by  M.  Costa  are  made  of  wood,  and  are 
somewhat  larger  than  those  above  described.  The 
boxes  should  not  be  much  larger  than  those 
which  I  use,  for  the  reason  that  in  larger  ones 
the  weight  of  the  sand  would  injure,  if  not  de- 
stroy-the  eggs, 


TRANSPORTATION   OF  THE  EGGS.  81 

By  this  method,  the  eggs  of  the  salmon  family, 
as  well  as  many  other  species  of  fish,  may  be 
kept  for  a  month  or  more.  M.  Costa  kept  them 
in  this  manner  nearly  two  months. 

Before  removing  them  from  the  boxes,  the  box 
should  be  dipped  in  clean  water,  and  the  sand 
permitted  to  become  thoroughly  saturated,  other- 
wise the  eggs  might  be  injured  during  the  process 
of  removal.  In  some  instances,  M.  Costa  found 
the  eggs,  upon  being  removed  from  the  sand,  a 
little  shriveled;  after  being  placed  in  the  Hatch- 
ing apparatus,  they  soon  regained  their  former 
plumpness,  and  a  very  large  proportion  of  them 
gave  birth  to  healthy  young  fish. 

It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  the  eggs 
be  not  packed  in  sand  immediately  after  their 
fecundation,  but  should  be  permitted  to  remain 
quiet  in  pure  water — running  water,  if  possible — 
for  several  days;  in  fact,  if  they  could  so  remain 
for  two  weeks  it  would  be  preferable. 

M.  Costa  recommends  that  the  embryo  fish 
should  be  so  far  developed  that  the  eyes  may  be 
perceived  through  the  membraneous  covering  of 
the  eggs,  looking  like  two  little  black  spe<lks. 
The  reason  for  this  delay  in  packing  the  eggs  is 
simply  this: 

The  vitality  of  the  embryo  is  much  more  sen- 
sitive— more  liable  to  be  destroyed  at  this  early 


32  TRANSPORTATION  OF  THE  EGGS. 

stage  of  existence  than  when  more  developed; 
beside,  when  the  eyes  are  perceptible,  it  is  known 
to  a  certainty  that  the  eggs  are  fecundated. 

Another  method  of  shipping  eggs,  (and  a  very 
good  method  it  is,  too,)  is  to  place  the  eggs  in  a 
box  filled  with  aquatic  plants,  with  a  sufficient 
amount  of  water  to  keep  the  whole  wet.  This  is 
an  excellent  method,  in  cases  where  the  eggs  are 
to  be  kept  but  a  short  period  of  time. 

Yet  another  method  is  recommended,  which  is, 
to  place  the  eggs  between  the  folds  of  clean,  wet 
cloth — thick  blanketing  is  recommended — placed 
in  boxes  in  the  same  manner  as  the  sand  in  M. 
Costa's  method — that  is,  in  alternate  layers — the 
whole  to  be  thoroughly  saturated  with  the  water. 

The  French  Government,  at  the  present  time, 
supplies,  from  its  establishment  at  Huningen,  eggs 
of  the  most  select  varieties  to  every  department 
of  France,  so  that  in  a  very  short  period  of  time 
the  rivers,  lakes,  and  even  the  bays  of  France 
will  be  teeming  with  shoals  of  fish,  where  they 
had  become  very  scarce,  and  in  many  places,  in 
'fact,  were  none  at  all. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

TRANSPORTATION     OF     FISH. 

It  sometimes  so  happens  that  it  is  desirable  to 
transport  live  fish  from  one  location  to  another. 
The  transportation  of  live  fish  has  always  been 
a  laborious  business  to  me,  and  hazardous  to  the 
fish,  until  I  hit  upon  the  plan  of  conveying  them 
in  water,  made  very  cold  by  the  addition  of  ice. 
I  carried  four  hundred  and  twenty  trout  a  dis- 
tance of  twenty-eight  miles  without  changing  the 
water  once,  in  a  barrel  only  three-fourths  full  of 
water;  the  water  was  kept  as  cold  as  it  possibly 
could  be  by  frequent  additions  of  ice.  I  lost  only 
four  or  five  of  the  fish,  and  these  were  killed  by 
being  jammed  between  the  pieces  of  ice.  They 
were  in  the  barrel  fully  eighteen  hours  without 
the  water  having  been  once  changed. 

I  feel  very  confident  that  they  would-  not  have 
lived  a  single  hour  in  the  water,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  extreme  cold  caused  by  the  frequent  addi- 
tions of  ice.  The  fish,  however,  were  all  small — 
one-third  of  them,  perhaps,  were  two  years  old; 
the  remainder  were  yearlings  and  young  fry  of  six 
months. 


34  TRANSPORTATION   OF  FISH. 

Very  young  fish  can  be  transported  much  more 
safely  and  with  less  care  than  older  ones,  but  I 
am  unable  to  say  whether  they  can  endure  as 
great  a  degree  of  cold  as  older  ones.  I  have 
never  made  the  experiment,  but  suppose  the  cold 
would  not  prove  injurious  to  even  newly  hatched 
fish. 

Another  reason  why  young  fish  are  much  more 
easily  transported  than  older  ones  is,  that  they  do 
not  exhaust  the  water  so  rapidly;  but  as  eggs  are 
so  much  more  easily  conveyed  from  place  to  place 
than  the  living  fish,  I  would  recommend  to  all 
persons  who  wish  to  stock  streams  or  ponds,  to 
procure  the  eggs  by  all  means,  as  it  is  far  more 
convenient  and  less  hazardous  to  transport  them 
than  the  living  fish. 

I  have  kept  in  my  house,  in  a  glass  jar,  the 
capacity  of  which  does  not  exceed  two  quarts,  a 
great  number  of  newly  hatched  trout  for  weeks, 
by  changing  the  water  no  oftener  than  once  a 
day;  and  as  far  as  I  could  discover,  they  did  just 
as  well  as  though  they  had  been  put  in  running 
water. 

M.  Costa  has  frequently  kept  young  salmon  and 
trout  in  glass  jars  for  a  long  time  without  chang- 
ing water,  by  putting  aquatic  plants  into  the  jar 
immediately  after  the  fish  are  hatched. 


CHAPTER    V. 


REPORT    ON    ARTIFICIAL    FISH-CULTURE, 

And  on  Stocking  Barren  and  Impoverished  Rivers  with  Fish  arti- 
ficially hatched.  Made  to  the  Minister  of  Commerce  by  M. 
MILNE  EDWARDS,  Member  of  the  Institute. 


IN  1850  the  attention  of  the  French  Government 
was  called  to  the  discovery  of  Messrs.  Gehin  and 
Remy,  and  the  Minister  of  Agriculture  and  Com- 
merce appointed  a  member  of  the  Academy,  a  dis- 
tinguished savant,  M.  Milne-Edwards,  to  examine  the 
subject  carefully  and  make  a  report. 

The  following  is  his  report; 

Sir : — Owing  to  the  interest  which  you  feel  in  all 
discoveries  calculated  to  increase  the  alimentary 
resources  of  the  country,  you  desired  to  form  a  cor- 
rect opinion  of  the  attempts  which  for  some  time 
have  been  made,  whether  in  France  or  in  England, 
to  ensure  the  multiplication  of  fish  in  ponds  and 
rivers,  and  to  augment  the  value  of  products  of 
fisheries. 

You  have  done  me  the  honor  to  submit  this- 
question  to  my  examination,  and  have  charged  me 
most  particularly  to  render  a  complete  account  of 
the  results  obtained  by  two  fishermen,  who  followed 


36  REPORT  ON  ARTIFICIAL  FISH-CULTURE. 

their  trade  near  the  sources  of  the  Moselle,  and 
who,  by  a  process  of  artificial  fecundation,  have 
established  in  the  department  of  the  Vosges,  a 
veritable  fish  factory.  With  pleasure  I  conformed 
to  your  wishes,  and  I  will  be  well  pleased,  Mr. 
Minister,  if  the  investigations  I  have  made,  can 
aid  you  in  endowing  our  rural  industry  with  a 
new  source  of  wealth,  the  importance  of  which 
will  not  be  undervalued  by  physiologists  or  agri- 
culturists. Fish  is  an  article  of  food  rich  in  nu- 
tritive qualities,  and  to  augment  its  abundance, 
either  on  our.  coasts  or  in  our  streams,  will  be 
a  real  benefit  for  all  classes  of  population.  River 
fishing  is  generally  little  productive  in  France ; 
but  it  is  only  necessary  to  cast  one's  eyes  upon 
the  doings  of  our  neighbors  of  other  countries, 
to  comprehend  what  might  be  its  value,  if  means 
be  found  to  stock  with  good  fish  our  rivers  and 
ponds,  as  amply  as  nature  has  stocked  those  of 
Scotland  and  Ireland,  and  as  agriculturists  stock 
their  fields  with  herbiverous  animals  equally  des- 
tined to  serve  our  subsistence. 

River-fishing  has  long  been  the  objects  of  en- 
actments favoring  the  reproduction  of  fish,  and 
protecting  the  development  of  the  fry.  The  royal 
ordinance  of  1669  forms  the  basis  of  our  legis- 
lation on  the  subject,  and  contains  many  clauses 
of  incontestible  utility. 


REPORT  ON  ARTIFICIAL   FISH-CULTURE.  37 

Proprietors  of  ponds  bestow  ordinarily  some 
care  upon  stocking  them,  but  all  that  relates  to 
reproduction  of  fish  in  our  rivers  is  left  to  mere 
chance,  and  while  bitterly  lamenting  the  constant 
and  rapid  decrease  of  their  products,  we  have  not, 
till  now,  given  sufficient  consideration  to  the  reme- 
dies for  the  evil. 

Public  attention  was  at  last  awakened  to  this 
question  by  a  lecture  delivered  two  years  since, 
at  the  Academy  of  Science  by  one  of  our  most 
distinguished  zoologists,  M.  de  Quatrefages,  for- 
merly one  of  the  Faculty  of  Science  of  Toulouse. 
This  learned  and  elegant  writer,  gave  our  agri- 
culturists useful  counsel  on  the  art  of  bringing 
rip  fish,  and  strongly  urged  upon  them  the  putting 
in  practice  of  a  process  of  multiplying  their  num- 
bers, long  well  known  to  physiologists,  and  often 
experimentally  employed  in  their  cabinets,  viz: 
that  of  artificially  fecundating  the  eggs.  We  know 
by  the  labors  of  Spallanzani,  and  by  the  experi- 
mental researches  with  which  you,  yourself,  Mr. 
Minister,  and  your  ancient  colleague,  Prevost,  (of 
Geneva,)  twenty-five  years  enriched  science,  that 
all  fecundation  is  the  result  of  the  action  exer- 
cised upon  the  egg  at  its  state  of  maturity  by 
the  living  spermatozoa  with  which  the  semen 
or  milt  is  charged,  that  this  action  takes  place 
through  the  direct  contact  of  those  two  repro- 


38  REPORT  ON    ARTIFICIAL   FISH-CULTURE. 

ductive  elements,  and  that  the  physiological  puis- 
sance of  these  same  agents  may  be  preserved 
during  a  longer  or  shorter  period  after  they  have 
been  taken  from  the  living  bodies  which  have 
given  them  existence. 

With  a  great  number  of  inferior  animals,  the 
parents  part  in  the  work  of  reproduction,  consists 
only  in  the  formation  and  emission  of  these  two 
generic  elements;  the  egg  is  not  impregnated  till 
after  being  spawned,  it  meets  the  spermatozoa, 
the  contact  with  which,  necessary  to  endow  it 
with  life,  only  takes  place  by  the  concurrence  of 
exterior  causes,  independent  of  the  action  of  the 
parents,  for  example,  by  the  course  of  the  cur- 
rent in  which  the  milt  is  deposited.  The  experi- 
mentalist can,  therefore,  determine  at  will  this 
physiological  phenomenon,  by  mechanically  mixing 
the  eggs  and  milt  of  these  animals,  and  the  same 
result  will  be  obtained  by  this  process  as  by  the 
natural  one. 

The  observation  of  zoologists  show,  too,  that 
in  the  general  harmony  of  nature,  the  fecundity 
of  animals  is  regulated  not]  only  with  regard  to 
the  causes  of  destruction  to  which  the  young  are 
exposed  before  they  become  capable  of  reproduc- 
ing their  species,  but  also  in  view  of  the  chances 
of  non-fecundation  to  which  the  eggs  are  submitted 
as  the  contact  of  the  eggs  with  the  seminal  fluid 


REPORT    ON  ARTIFICIAL   FISH    CULTURE.  Otf 

takes  place  after  they  have  been  spawned,  and 
depends  more  or  less  upon  chance.  Fish  belong, 
for  the  most  part,  to  the  category  of  animals 
among  which  there  is  'no  act  of  copulation  for 
reproduction,  that  being  effected  simply  by  the 
ejection  by  the  male  of  the  milt,  or  semen  upon 
the  eggs  which  have  been  spawned  by  the  female. 

To  procure  the  development  of  the  embryo, 
therefore,  in  the  otherwise  sterile  eggs,  the  natu- 
ralist, in  the  experiments  of  his  labratory,  has 
only  to  imitate  that  which  happens  normally  in 
nature;  that  is  to  say,  to  bring  them  in  contact 
with  water  charged  with  milt;  impregnation,  then, 
is  soon  effected;  and  to  procure  this  milt,  as  well 
as  the  eggs  to  be  impregnated,  all  that  is  required 
is  a  light  pressure  of  the  abdomen  of  the  males 
and  females,  whose  products  are  matured  and  whose 
lives  will  not  be  endangered  by  the  operation;  or 
these  products  may  even  be  procured  by  opening 
the  bodies  of  the  newly  dead  subjects,  for  the  eggs 
and  the  milt  preserve  their  vitality  for  some  time 
after  the  death  of  the  bodies  containing  them,  and 
thus  from  two  corpses  may  be  brought  forth  a 
numerous  and  strong  generation. 

This  fact  was  fully  established  by  Count  de 
Goldstein,  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century 
long  before  Spallanzani  published  his  beautiful 
researches  upon  generation.  In  1758  this  judi- 


40  REPORT    ON   ARTIFICIAL    FISH-CULTURE. 

cious  observer  addressed  to  an  ancestor  of  the 
celebrated  Fourcroy,  a  most  interesting  memoir 
upon  artificial  fecundation  of  trouts'  eggs,  and 
upon  the  application  to  stocking  rivers,  of  which 
the  discovery  was  susceptible. 

An  extract  from  Goldstein's  work,  was  inserted 
in  a  work  called  Soirees  Helvetiennes,  and  some 
years  later,  in  1770,  Duhamel  du  Monceau  gave 
a  translation  of  it  in  the  third  volume  of  his 
Traite  generel  des  Peches,  published  under  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  Academy  of  Sciences. 

About  the  same  period,  a  German  naturalist, 
Jacobi,  published  at  Hamburg  an  equally  interesting 
letter  upon  the  art  of  bringing  up  salmon  and 
trout,  and  on  the  production  of  these  fish  by 
means  of  artificial  fecundation.  At  a  later  date 
analagous  experiments  were  made  in  Scotland  by 
Dr.  Knox,  Mr.  Shaw  and  Mr.  Andrew  Young.  In 
1835,  Signor  Rusconi,  so  well  known  among  natu- 
ralists by  his  work  on  the  embryology  of  sala- 
manders, published  in  the  seventy-ninth  volume 
of  the  Bibliotheca  Italiana,  new  observations  on 
the  development  of  fish,  and  gives  equally  instruc- 
tive details  in  artificial  fecundation  of  the  eggs 
of  the  tench  and  the  ablette.  At  my  suggestion, 
the  translation  of  this  memoir  was  inserted  in 
the  Annaks  des  Sciences  Nalurelles  pour  1836. 

I   would   add,  too,  that  it  was  by  recourse   to 


REPORT    ON    ARTIFICIAL    PISH    CULTURE.  41 

this  method  of  multiplication  that  Messrs.  Agas- 
siz  and  Voght  procured  all  the  embryos  necessary 
for  their  studies  on  the  development  of  the 
palee,  a  species  of  salmon  of  the  Swiss  lakes  the 
anatomical  history  of  which  these  two  naturalists 
published  in  1842.  The  philosophical  fact,  then, 
upon  which  M.  de  Quatrefages  relied  to  stimulate 
agriculturists  to  the  manufacturing  of  fish,  in  the 
same  way  they  produce  grain  or  meats,  offered 
nothing  new  to  zoologists,  and  to  their  remem- 
brance M.  de  Quatrefages  was  the  first  to  recall 
the  claim  of  Goldstein  as  the  discoverer  of  arti- 
ficial fecundation.  But  under  our  system  of  edu- 
cation, truths  well  known  by  naturalists  are 
unknown  by  most  other  men,  even  the  best 
informed,  and  it  Avas  not  unnecessary  to  call 
public  attention  forcibly  to  this  application  of 
science  to  rural  industry,  which  not  only  had  not 
profited  by  the  results  of  the  discovery,  but  I 
think  I  can  safely  affirm  that  there  were  then  not 
ten  agricultural  authors  or  teachers  in  all  France, 
who  had  the  least  idea  of  the  service  which 
physiologists  had  so  long  before  rendered  them. 
Under  such  circumstances  we  should  not  be 
astonished  to  find  in  one  of  the  most  secluded 
valleys  of  the  chain  of  Vosges,  two  illiterate 
fishermen,  but  endowed  by  nature  with  a  rare 
spirit  of  observation  and  a  rarer  perseverance, 


42  REPORT    ON   ARTIFICIAL    FISH    CULTURE. 

being  ignorant  of  prior  discoveries,  and  wishing 
to  find  some  remedy  for  the  decrease  and  threat- 
ened extinction  of  their  trade,  employing  several 
years  of  their  time  in  laboriously  making  over 
again  the  same  experiments  already  made  by  the 
physiologist  I  have  cited,  and  in  rediscovering 
what  naturalists  had  been  acquainted  with  for  a 
century. 

But  if  these  poor  peasants  of  Bresse  were 
preceded  in  their  researches  by  scientific  men, 
and  if  they  have  not  enriched  natural  history 
with  fresh  discoveries,  their  labors  are  no  less 
worthy  of  interest,  and  they  have  a  claim  upon 
our  consideration,  for  they  seem  to  have  been 
the  first  among  us  to  make  practical  application 
of  the  discovery  of  artifical  fecundation  to  the 
rearing  of  the  fish,  and  have  thus  the  merit  of 
creating  in  France  a  new  branch  of  industry. 

The  first  essays  of  Messrs.  Gehin  and  Remy 
were  made  in  1842.  Having  by  a  long  course  of 
observation  become  acquainted  with  the  mode  of 
reproduction  practised  by  trout,  and  being  assured 
of  the  possibility  of  artificially  fecundating  its 
eggs,  they  applied  themselves  to  the  production 
of  quantities  of  these  fish  to  stock  the  streams 
of  the  canton.  Success  crowned  their  efforts, 
and  notwithstanding  their  feeble  resources,  and 
the  difficulties  of  all  sorts  they  had  to  en- 


REPORT    ON   ARTIFICIAL   FISH-CULTURE.  43 

counter,  they  still   obtained   considerable    results. 

They  were  enabled  to  stock,  with  young  trout 
artificially  hatched,  two  ponds  near  their  village 
of  Bresse,  one  of  which  furnished  last  year  1200 
trout  of  two  years  old. 

Gehin  and  Remy  estimate  at  about  50,000  the 
number  of  young  fish  they  have  put  in  the 
Moselotte,  a  little  river  of  Bresse,  which  empties 
into  the  Moselle,  near  Remiremont ;  they  have 
put  in  practice  their  mode  of  stocking  in  several 
other  localities  of  the  same  center,  as  appears 
by  documents  furnished  by  the  authorities  of 
Saulxres,  of  Cornimont,  and  of  Gerardmer.  Be- 
sides these,  M.  Kienzi,  mayor  of  Waldenstein, 
in  the  department  of  Haut  Rhin,  deputed  them 
to  restock  the  water  courses  of  his  commune, 
and  this  intelligent  official  gives  assurance  that 
they  perfectly  succeeded. 

I  would  add  also,  that,  wishing  to  render  the 
discovery  of  the  widest  public  utility,  our  fish- 
ermen never  made  any  secret  of  their  processes, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  readily  initated  any  one 
who  desired  to  undertake  similar  work.  All  who 
have  ever  had  occasion  to  witness  the  labors 
of  Gehin  and  Remy,  bestow  on  them  the  highest 
praise. 

I  visited  their  establishment  and  witnessed 
some  of  their  experiments.  The  Society  of  Emu- 


44  REPORT    ON    ARTIFICIAL   FISH-CULTURE. 

lation  took  up  and  fully  investigated  the  subject, 
and  bestowed  on  each  of  these  worthy  men  an 
honorary  medal.  The  work  they  proposed  it  seems 
to  me  they  fully  succeeded  in,  and  to  render 
their  country  great  service  they  only  need  the 
means  to  extend  their  operations.  I  do  not  judge 
solely  by  the  results  obtained  by  Gehin  and  Remy, 
but  also  by  similar  ones  on  a  large  scale,  which 
I  found  to  have  been  obtained  for  several  years 
past  in  Great  Britain,  and  which  had  excited 
there  considerable  interest. 

In  fact,  M.  Boccius,  a  civil  engineer  of  Ham- 
mersmith, has  practised  artificial  fecundation  in 
stocking  several  rivers  in  Great  Britain,  and 
seems  to  have  had  complete  success. 

In  1841  he  worked  in  the  streams  belonging 
to  Mr.  Drummond,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Ux- 
bridge,  and  he  estimates  at  120,000  the  number 
of  trout  he  there  brought  up.  The  following 
years  he  put  in  practice  the  same  processes  on 
the  magnificent  domain  of  the  Duke  of  Devon- 
shire, at  Chotsworth;  then  for  Mr.  Gurnie,  at 
Carsolton;  and  Mr.  Hilbert,  of  Chatford;  finally, 
the  Anglers'  Club  put  under  his  charge  the 
important  fishing  grounds  of  Ansval-Magna,  in 
the  county  of  Hertford,  and  M.  Boccius  assured 
me  that  he  had  already  artificially  hatched  there 
at  least  2,000,000  trout.  He  has  published  a 


REPORT    ON    ARTIFICIAL    FISH-CULTURE.  45 

book  upon  his  method  of  stocking  streams,  and 
it  seems  that  a  society  is  about  to  be  formed 
under  the  patronage  of  Sir  H.  Labouchere,  with 
a  view  of  attempting  to  stock  the  Thames  with 
salmon. 

The  process  employed  by  Gehin  and  Remy  is 
simple  and  easily  practised;  it  hardly  differs 
from  that  adopted  by  Boccius,  and  equally  re- 
sembles the  method  described  by  Jacobi,  nearly 
a  century  ago. 

Trout-breeding  takes  place  in  December,  and 
in  order  to  have  eggs  for  artificial  hatching,  it 
suffices  to  press  lightly,  before  and  behind,  the 
abdomen  of  a  female  fish  ready  to  hatch;  and 
her  eggs,  in  falling,  should  be  caught  in  a  vessel 
with  water,  and  afterwards  sprinkled  with  mitt 
obtained  in  the  same  manner  and  diluted. 

If  the  eggs  have  not  arrived  at  their  term 
when  operations  are  commenced,  they  will  only 
be  run  out  with  a  strong  pressure,  and  in  such 
case  the  fish  should  be  left  in  a  preserve  during 
some  days  before  this  forced  birth  is  adopted, 
for  neither  the  eggs  nor  the  milt  can  be  usefully 
employed  in  a  state  of  immaturity,  and  the  life 
of  the  parent  fish  would  be  endangered  by  rough 
handling. 

On  coming  in  contact  with  the  spermatised 
water,  the  eggs  change  color — before  fecundation 


46  REPORT    ON   ARTIFICIAL    FISH-CULTURE. 

they  are  transparent  and  yellow — so  fecundated 
they  become  whitish  or  rather  opaline.  A  trout, 
aged  some  two  years,  and  weighing  about  125 
grammes,  can  furnish  about  600  eggs;  a  trout 
of  three  years,  700  to  800;  and  it  is  also  to  be 
noticed  that  the  milt  of  one  male  is  enough  to 
fecundate  the  eggs  of  half  a  dozen  females,  or 
even  more. 

Messrs.  Gehin  and  Remy  placed  the  eggs  so 
fecundated  in  a  tin  box  pierced  with  holes  on  a 
gravel  bed:  these  boxes  are  about  fifteen  centi- 
metres in  diameter,  and  eight  deep,  and  can 
contain  each  a  thousand  eggs. 

They  are  then  to.  be  placed  in  some  stream- 
let of  which  the  waters  are  pure  and  lively 
but  not  deep:  in  this  they  are  partially  buried, 
and  so  disposed  that  the  water  in  the  boxes  is 
rapidly  renewed,  for  the  agitation  of  it  is  neces- 
sary to  insure  the  respiration  of  the  embryos, 
and  also  to  hinder  the  development  of  confer- 
vas, which  will  not  be  slow  to  catch  and  destroy 
the  eggs  if  the  water  be  stagnant.  The  develop- 
ment of  these  embryos  lasts  four  m6nths,  and  it 
is  generally  towards  the  end  of  March  or  in  April 
that  the  hatching  takes  place;  during  six  weeks 
more  the  new-born  trout  carry  under  the  abdo- 
men the  umbilical  vesicle  which  holds  the  re- 
mains of  the  nutritive  matter,  analagous  to  the 


REPORT    ON    ARTIFICIAL    FISH-CULTURE.  47 

yelk  of  a  bird's  egg,  and  at  first,  by  means  of 
this  substance  the  minnows  are  nourished;  but 
when  absorption  takes  place,  the  young  fish  have 
need  of  other  nutriment,  and  should  then  be  driven 
out  of  the  box  in  which  they  are  cradled,  and 
permitted  to  swim  freely  in  the  streamlet  which 
they  are  to  stock. 

In  fine,  to  procure  for  these  little  fish  suit- 
able and  abundant  nourishment,  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  leave  or  put  in  the  water  some  frogs, 
whose  spawn  they  will  greedily  eat,  while  the 
tadpoles  afford  excellent  food  for  the  older  trout. 
When  the  young  trout  so  brought  up  are  des- 
tined to  stock,  a  river,  they  should  be  placed  in 
streams  tributary  to  it,  and  water  selected  which 
rushes  over  pebbles  or  rocks. 

In  proportion  as  these  fish  grow,  they  descend 
spontaneously  to  the  deep  water,  whither  they 
arrive  only  when  they  are  sufficiently  agile  to 
protect  themselves  against  the  enemies  which 
they  may  encounter ;  while  if  they  are  at  once 
placed  in  the  midst  of  other  voracious  fish,  they 
will  have  but  a  small  chance  of  escaping  death. 
"When  they  are  so  raised  in  streamlets  or  ponds, 
precaution  must  be  taken  to  seperate  the  product 
of  each  year  from  the  former  one,  as  the  big 
trout  will  otherwise  eat  up  the  little  ones;  and 
to  avoid  this  the  young  fish  in  the  same  circle 
should  be  of  one  age. 


48  REPORT    ON    ARTIFICIAL    FISH-qULTURE. 

To  establish  after  a  regular  fashion  this 
branch  of  production,  there  should  be  at  least 
three  streamlets  or  brooks,  for  the  fish  to  be 
changed  during  three  years,  new  ones  being 
placed  in  them  as  fast  as  exhausted. 

Unhappily  Messrs.  Gehin  and  Remy  have  not 
at  their  disposal  the  necessary  funds  to  com- 
plete this  work.  They  have  obtained  the  grant 
of  a  fish-pond  for  this  purpose,  and  bought  an- 
other for  800  francs;  but  now  their  pecuniary 
means  are  gone,  and  if  sir,  under  your  kind  pro- 
tection, they  do  not  get  some  help  from  Gov- 
ernment, I  fear  it  will  be  impossible  for  them 
to  pursue  the  trials  so  satisfactorily  commenced. 

The  labors  of  Messrs.  Gehin  &  Remy  appear 
to  me  the  more  worthy  of  encouragement,  as 
success  can  afford  but  little  profit  to  such  devo- 
ted and  active  men,  but  will  contribute  to  increase 
the  alimentary  resources  commanded  by  people  on 
the  banks  of  streams.  Only  in  considering  fishe- 
ries as  works  of  public  utility,  and  causing  them 
to  be  executed  by  the  State,  can  we  hope  to 
give  real  importance  to  our  river  fisheries;  but 
in  applying  a  small  sum  to  this  end,  we  will 
arrive,  I  have  no  doubt,  at  important  results  for 
the  country. 

If  the  fish-breeding  practiced  by  Messrs.  Gehin 
&  Remy  were  only  applicable  to  trout  and  to 


REPORT  ON  ARTIFICIAL    FISH-CULTURE.  49 

other  fish  of  limited  supply,  I  would  not  attach 
as  much  interest  to  it  as  I  do;  but  it  may  be 
applied  to  salmon,  and  I  am  convinced  that  it 
would  be  easy  thus  to  restore  to  the  rivers  of 
Brittany  icthyological  riches  which  are  now  dis- 
appearing, and  even  to  acclimate  salmon  in  rivers 
which,  up  to  this  time,  have  not  been  frequented 
by  that  fish. 

Nothing  is  easier  than  to  transport  eggs  just 
laid,  or  living  salmon  of  which  the  abdomen  is 
filled  either  with  eggs  or  milt;  and  even  when 
these  die  on  the  road,  the  hatching  of  their  eggs 
can  be  attained.  In  placing  the  eggs  so  acquired 
in  streamlets  properly  chosen,  the  young  salmon 
will  grow  as  though  spawned  there  by  their  par- 
ents ;  they  will  emigrate  as  usual  to  the  ocean, 
and  in  its  depths  they  in  turn  will  spawn,  and 
will  not  fail  to  return  in  great  numbers  to  the 
stream  whence  they  proceeded,  and  in  following 
its  course  seek  a  proper  place  for  the  growth  of 
their  progeny. 

We  know,  in  fact  by  experiments  already  old, 
made  in  Brittany  by  Delandes,  and  by  observa- 
tions of  the  same  kind,  repeated  in  our  day  in 
Scotland  by  the  Duke  of  Athol,  Sir  W.  Jardine, 
Mr.  Baigrie,  Mr.  Hayshan  and  Mr.  Young,  the 
Director  of  the  fisheries  of  the  Duke  of  Suther- 
land, that  guided  by  a  singular  instinct  comparable 
3 


50  REPORT  ON   ARTIFICIAL  FISH-CULTURE. 

to  migratory  swallows,  the  salmon  after  having 
emigrated  far  into  the  sea,  returns  ordinarily  to 
the  water  where  it  was  spawned,  and  the  indvidu- 
als  of  the  same  species  are  so  perpetuated  in 
certain  rivers  without  mixing  with  those  of  strange 
waters. 

It   seems  to  me  consequently  indubitable,   that 
in  the  space    of    a  few  years   it   would  not   only 
be  possible  greatly  to  multiply   salmon  in  all  the 
waters    natural  to   them,    but    to    introduqe    and 
acclimate  this  large  and  valuable  fish  in  many  of 
our  streams  hitherto  without  them.     For  the  sal- 
mon   and    the   trout    also,    as    well    as    for    many 
other     kinds,    the    method    of   Gehin    and    Kemy 
appears    to   be    the    surest  method    of   stocking 
rivers;    but    we     cannot    have    recourse    to    the 
artificial  fecundation   of  eggs   to   stock   fresh   wa- 
ters  of  certain  kinds,   of  which  the   introduction, 
however,  would  be  of  great  utility  in  certain  locali- 
ties.     Thus,    eels    are   never   caught   at    maturity 
with  milt  or  eggs,  and  these  fish  seem  to  be  only 
produced  in   the   depths   of  the    sea,   whence  just 
spawned  they   go    in   legions    innumerable    every 
year  to  occupy  rivers,  where  they  are  known  by 
our  fishermen  under  the  name  of  montee. 

To  supply  brooks  and  streams  needing  them, 
such  spawn  must  be  transported,  and  the  opera- 
tion renewed  cr'-'./Jicaliv  ;  and  M.  Costa  has 


REPORT    ON    ARTIFICIAL    FISH    CULTURE.  51 

shown  that  this  transportation  can  be  easily  ef- 
fected, even  to  considerable  distances. 

For  this  purpose  it  is  sufficient  to  place  the 
young  eels  in  grass  kept  wet.  The  experiments 
which  M.  Costa  is  now  pursuing  at  Paris  in  the 
laboratory  of  the  College  of  France,  proves  that 
young  eels  can  be  fed  at  small  expense,  so  that 
they  will  grow  rapidly,  and  it  seems  to  me  that 
in  many  marshy  places,  raising  eels  would  be  pro- 
fitable. 

If  I  had  to  treat  here  of  marine  fishing,  I 
would  ask  of  you,  sir,  permission  to  call  your 
attention  to  several  matters  touching  the  treat- 
ment of  our  oyster  beds,  and  the  means  of 
favoring  the  multiplication  of  these  mollusks.  A 
manufacturer  of  charente.  M.  Carbonnel,  has  con- 
versed with  the  Academy  of  Sciences  several 
times  laterly,  and  thinks  it  would  be  easy  to 
establish  on  our  coast  at  different  points  such 
artificial  oyster  beds.  M.  de  Quatrefages  has 
also  requested  the  naturalists  on  coasts  to  try 
the  artificial  fecundation  of  oysters,  and  I  <mi 
persuaded  that  in  studying  experimentally  all 
that  relates  to  the  generation  of  these  mollusks, 
wo  shall  arrive  at  results  extremely  interesting  for 
industry  as  well  as  science.  But  in  the  actual 
state  of  our  knowledge  relative  to  the  physiolo- 
gy of  these  animals,  we  cannot  pronounce  on  the 


52  REPORT    ON   ARTIFICIAL   FISH-CULTURE. 

value  of  the  mode  of  multiplication  which  the 
authors  I  have  just  cited  propose  to  employ. 

Whatever  it  he,  after  the  entire  results  of 
which  I  render  you  an  account,  and  after  exper- 
iments analagous  to  those  of  Messrs.  Gehin  and 
Remy,  made  hy  M.  Lefebre,  of  Vaugorard,  it 
seems  clear  that  with  perseverance,  we  can,  with 
little  expense,  ameliorate  the  icthyological  breed 
of  France,  and  also  for  our  territory  covered  with 
water,  a  revenue  much  more  considerable  than 
that  now  derived. 

This  would  he  for  the  whole  country  an  in- 
crease of  riches,  and  trials  of  this  kind  appear 
to  me  all  the  more  important,  as  several  circum- 
stances tend  to  dimmish  the  alimentary  resource 
of  our  rivers.  The  increasing  variety  of  fish  in  a 
good  number  of  our  rivers  does  not  arise  solely 
from  the  manner  in  which  fishing  has  been  pur- 
sued, but  from  other  causes,  among  which  is  the 
extension  of  manufacturing  industry.  Thus,  the 
toll  gates  established  in  such  numbers  for  the 
service  of  hydraulic  motors,  are  so  many  obstac- 
les to  the  production  of  various  fish,  which  re- 
quire to  ascend  the  rivers  to  their  head  waters 
to  find  fit  spawning  spots,  and  single  propogators 
arriving  in  small  numbers  in  the  streamlets,  the 
fish  interests  of  the  river  suffer,  for  the  eggs 
are  not  in  a  condition  favorable  to  the  develop- 


REPORT    ON    ARTIFICIAL    FISH-CULTURE.  53 

ment  of  the  young,  and  the  means  of  recruiting 
the  entire  species  is  rapidly  lessened.  If,  as  in 
Scotland,  and  even  in  England,  there  existed  in 
France  many  rich  proprietors  who  possessed  water 
courses  of  considerable  extent,  we  could  leave  to 
the  care  of  private  individuals  all  matters  relat- 
ing to  improved  river  fishing,  for  to  whomever 
one  of  these  streams  belonged,  he  would  be  in- 
terested in  increasing  its  products.  But  with  us 
it  is  altogether  otherwise,  and  the  individual  who 
would  occupy  himself  with  stocking  a  stream  with 
fish,  could  hardly  hope  to  reap  personal  profit 
therefrom ;  he  would  augment  the  alimentary  re- 
source of  his  fellow  citizens,  and  thus  render  his 
country  solid  service,  but  he  alone  would  enjoy 
but  a  small  interest  in  the  benefit  so  diffused, 
and  ordinarly  would  want  the  stimulus,  to  under- 
take the  labor. 

The  stocking  of  rivers,  then,  should  be  con- 
sidered a  matter  of  public  utility,  and  it  seems 
to  me  that  it  is  the  business  of  the  State  to  look 
after  it. 

Trials  of  this  kind  made  on  a  grand  scale, 
and  prudently  conducted,  and  confided  to  intelli- 
gent men,  would  not  involve  heavy  expenses  to 
lead  to  important  results.  If  you  judge  proper 
to  have  them  executed,  you  will  find  in  the  two 
fishermen  in  question,  capable  agents,  and  I  would 


04:  REPORT    ON    ARTIFICIAL    FISH-CULTURE. 

add  that  the  charge  of  such  work  would  be  the 
least  recompense  the  government  could  make  them. 
For  the  rest  such  an  enterprise  would  neces- 
sitate serious  preliminary  studies,  and  give  rise 
to  several  questions,  for  whose  solution  the  opin- 
ion of  the  administration  of  waters  and  forests 
would  be  necessary,  as  well  as  the  light  of  natu- 
ralists, and  it  Avould  perhaps  be  necessary  to  have 
a  mixed  commission.  To  sum  up — we  perceive 
that  the  stocking  of  fresh  waters  with  artificial 
methods  was  long  since  thought  of,  but  it  was 
only  tried  in  France  lately:  that  Messrs.  Gehin 
&  Remy  appear  to  have  been  the  first  to  put 
the  method  in  practice  among  us,  and  that  for 
their  part  they  have  arrived  at  results  analagous 
to  those  obtained  at  the  same  period  in  England 
by  Mr.  Boccius :  that  the  labors  of  these  two 
fishermen  are  worthy  of  attention,  and  that  in 
applying  to  the  reproduction  of  salmon  the  means 
they  have  successfully  used  to  rear  trout,  we 
shall  be  enabled  largely  to  increase  the  interests 
of  our  river  fisheries. 

I  have  the   honor,   &c. 

MILNE-EDWARDS. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

IN  addition  to  the  Report  of  M.  Milne-Edwards, 
we  present  to  the  reader  the  Report  of  M.  Costa, 
a.  gentleman  of  rare  attainments,  and  filling  a 
Professorship  in  the  College  of  France  with  dis- 
tinguished ability.  These  two  documents  ought 
to  go  far  in  removing  any  doubts  in  the  minds 
of  those  who  are  prone  to  scepticism  on  the 
subject  offish-culture. 


REPORT 

On  the  means  of  Stocking  all  the  Streams  of  France  with  Fish, 
addressed  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  of  Agriculture  and 
Commerce. 

PARIS,  JULY  12,  1852. 

SIR: — In  your  letter  of  the  30th  of  June,  you 
asked  me  to  visit  the  fish-breeding  establishment 
at  Mulhouse,  of  Messrs.  Berthol  and  Detzeni,  en- 
gineers of  the  Rhone  and  Rhine  canal,  and  to 
suggest  to  you  measures  so  that  their  works  can 
be  made  to  stock  all  the  streams  of  France.  Ac- 
cordingly I  now  put  you  in  possession  of  the 
result  of  this  mission. 

The  discovery  of  artificial  fish-breeding  was 
long  hidden  in  the  laboratories  of  science,  where 


56  REPORT    ON    ARTIFICIAL    FISH-CULTURE. 

it  remained  confined  to  physiological  experiment; 
tut  lately  it  has  been  practically  set  forth  by  the 
Count  de  Goldstein,  by  Boccius,  and  above  all  by 
the  two  fishermen  of  Bresse,  and  sober  inquiry 
and  trial  have  been  adopted  to  attain  to  the 
precision  of  pure  method  in  regard  to  it. 

I  have  shown  for  my  part,  with  the  assistance 
of  Messrs.  Berthol  &  Detzem,  that  not  only  the 
eggs  of  fish  brought  from  very  distant  waters, 
preserve  all  their  native  powers  of  conception, 
but  that  by  means  of  machinery  extremely  sim- 
ple, they  can  be  hatched  much  more  quickly  and 
certainly  than  as  the  female  ordinarily  lays  them, 
so  that  two  sets  are  obtained  in  the  ordinary 
time  of  one. 

This  double  result,  that  of  carrying  without 
injury  eggs  to  a  great  distance,  and  their  rapid 
fecundation,  leads  to  the  possibility  of  restocking 
all  the  streams  of  France  in  a  single  season;  so 
that  it  will  cost  nothing  to  the  State  save  the 
necessary  advances  to  organize  an  establishment 
wherein  the  spawn  accumulated  from  all  points 
where  they  are  easily  secured,  should  be  confided 
to  the  care  of  canal  keepers.  I  say  it  will  cost 
the  State  nothing,  because  the  advances  can  be 
readily  more  than  repaid  by  a  contribution,  volun- 
tarily self-imposed  by  the  proprietors  in  exchange 
for  the  precious  gifts  made  them,  whether  in  the 
form  of  eggs  or  young  fish. 


REPORT    ON    ARTIFICIAL    FISH-CULTURE.  57 

The  more  I  reflect  on  the  means  of  realizing 
this  useful  enterprise,  the  more  I  consider  it  our 
duty  to  insist  that  France  shall  take  the  lead 
in  giving  a  practical  example  of  this  great  scien- 
tific discovery  which  can  so  increase  public  wealth 
by  creating  an  inexhaustible  means  of  production. 
It  is  a  wish  I  express  with  all  confidence,  because 
I  have  visited  the  spots  where  the  project  has 
already  received  an  impetus  under  the  auspices 
of  two  engineers,  who,  notwithstanding  their  lim- 
ited resources,  have  raised  this  year  a  million 
of  trout,  salmon  and  mongrels,  the  greater  portion 
of  which  they  showed  me  scattered  through  the 
ponds  which  they  have  dug  along  the  Rhone  and 
Rhine  canal. 

It  only  remains  to  profit  by  the  experience 
and  devotion  of  which  they  have,  during  two 
years,  given  so  many  proofs,  and  to  place  in  their 
hands  sufficient  means  to  transform  the  precarious 
arrangements  due  to  their  perseverance  into  a  ver- 
itable establishment  where,  as  in  the  best  regula- 
ted manufactories,  the  working  details  are  ample 
and  ready, 

The  locality  which  they  have  chosen  is  admi- 
rably well  adapted  to  their  purpose;  a  stream  of 
fresh  water,  clear  as  crystal,  runs  from  the  foot 
of  a  sheltering  hillock  on  a  common  of  several 
acres,  and  then  branches  off  into  smaller  streams. 


58  REPORT    ON    ARTIFICIAL    FISH    CULTURE. 

This  is  so  well  fitted  to  fish  hatching,  especially 
of  trout  and  salmon,  it  could  be  easily  turned 
into  a  vast  breeding  establishment.  It  would  be 
only  necessary  to  substitute  for  the  sieve-boxes 
hitherto  used,  (which  offer  obstructions  and  be- 
come less  and  less  permeable,)  simple  plates 
placed  longitudinally  in  parallel  positions,  which 
will  divide  the  stream  into  narrow  drains  more 
or  less  numerous,  through  which  the  water. will 
now  with  some  degree  of  rapidity.  These  drains, 
intended  to  receive  the  eggs,  will  be  cut  at  in- 
tervals so  as  to  form  a  succession  of  falls,  in 
order  to  hasten  the  course  and  give  an  airing 
to  the  water,  and  produce  conditions  most  favor- 
able to  the  end  in  view.  Each  one  of  these 
drains  should  be  extended  in  a  meadow,  without 
being  confounded  with  the  others,  and  finish  by 
enlargement  in  a  spacious  basin,  where  the  water 
in  question  alone  has  access,  and  whither  will 
come  the  young  fish  when  hatched,  another  place 
of  destination  being  in  store  for  them. 

When  this  stream  will  have  been  so  trans- 
formed into  a  vast  establishment  made  after  the 
plan  I  have  indicated,  it  should  be  covered  with 
a  glass  roof  like  a  green  house,  admitting  the 
light,  and  formed  of  moveable  panes  turning  round 
so  that  the  air  may  be  readily  admitted  when 
deemed  necessary. 


REPORT    ON  ARTIFICIAL   FISH    CULTURE.  59 

To  this  should  be  added  a  little  house  to 
protect  the  workmen,  where  a  workshop1"  of  all 
the  necessary  implements  would  be,  and  also  a 
register  of  the  results  of  each  day's  observations. 
The  natural  history  of  fish  so  obtained,  would 
offer  invaluable  details.  When  this  establishment 
would  be  ready,  the  problem  would  be  reduced, 
simply  procuring  eggs  sufficient  to  fill  it,  and 
then  stocking  all  the  streams  of  France.  This 
would  not  be  difficult  to  realize. 

Being  on  the  frontiers  of  Germany,  Messrs. 
Berthol  &  Detzen  are  in  communication  with  the 
fishermen  of  the  river  and  great  lakes,  where  are 
fish  the  most  esteemed. 

These  fishermen  have  undertaken  to  give  them 
all  kinds  of  eggs.  Messrs.  Berthol  &  Detzem  have 
already  taken  from  Lake  Federsee  thirty-six  gigan- 
tic fish,  which  so  transferred  I  have  seen  in  their 
basins.  They  are  waiting  now  for  a  supply  of 
young  fish  of  this  kind  which  bear  the  journey 
so  easily,  that  I  obtained  three  for  the  College 
of  France,  by  simply  putting  them  under  the 
care  of  the  conductor -of  the  dilligence,  who  kept 
them  two  days  and  a  night  in  a  vase.  These  fish 
hatch  even  in  turf  pits ;  so  that  they  can  be  easily 
propagated  in  those  of  Piccardy,  and  in  the  least 
favorable  waters.  Their  importation,  then,  will  be 
a  service  rendered  in  fish-breeding. 


60  REPORT    ON   ARTIFICIAL   FISH-CULTURE. 

In  hatching  fish  in  new  waters,  trials  of  their 
acclimation  can  he  successfully  made.  I  may  give 
here  striking  examples  in  citing  my  experiments 
at  the  College  of  France,  under  circumstances 
where  I  did  not  promise  myself  success.  Young 
salmon  hatched  in  my  laboratory,  and  placed  af- 
terwards in  an  artificial  pond  fed  by  a  single 
stream  of  the  water  of  the  Arcueil,  grew  as  well 
as  if  they  had  lived  in  the  Rhine,  as  I  was  able 
to  satisfy  myself  by  a  comparison.  They  are 
hardly  four  months  old,  and  already  their  length 
is  sixty  millemetres,  of  which  they  have  gained 
twelve  during  the  last  twenty-four  days,  a  remark- 
able growth  which  may  be  attributed,  without 
doubt,  to  the  particular  nourishment  they  receive, 
of  which  they  show  themselves  greedy. 

But  to  return  to  our  hatching  apparatus  and 
the  eggs  which  are  in  progress  of  development. 
Here  a  second  problem  is  presented:  what  becomes 
after  birth  of  the  young  fish  hatched  by  millions 
in  the  narrow  drains  where  the  eggs  are  depo- 
sited? This  second  problem  will  not  be  more 
difficult  to  answer  than  the  first.  The  arrange- 
ment of  the  locality  will  answer  for  all  exigen- 
cies. As  soon  as  the  newly-hatched  fish  are  strong 
enough  to  swim,  they  will  follow  the  course  of 
the  stream,  which  will  draw  them  to  the  meadow 
by  the  extremity  of  the  glass  house,  through 


REPORT    ON   ARTIFICIAL   FISH-CULTURE.  61 

which  the  current  passes  and  leave  them  in  the 
basin.  There  they  will  grow,  but  their  number 
increasing  every  day,  they  cannot  be  long  kept  in 
this  narrow  reservoir.  Larger  basins  then  must 
be  provided,  where  they  can  grow  with  proper 
nourishment.  The  depeneencies  of  the  Rhine  and 
Rhone  canal  will  fulfil  this  office,  and  on  a  scale 
so  vast  that  there  will  be  a  crop  greater  than 
one  would  suppose  room  could  there  be  found 
for.  Thus:  the  government  has  on  the  bor- 
ders of  the  canal,  on  the  right  and  left,  land 
in  length  117,730  metres,  and  breadth  15  metres. 
Already  there  they  have  dug  a  certain  number 
of  ponds,  well  supplied  with  water.  These  ponds 
may  be  multiplied  indefinitely,  and  connected  by 
gratings,  so  as  to  prevent  the  admixture  of  the 
different  kinds  of  fish,  and  stopped  off  occasion- 
ally in  order  to  admit  of  being  severally  emp- 
tied, so  that  the  young  fish  can  be  taken  from 
them.  But  the  ponds  already  dug  on  one  side 
of  the  canal,  are  in  the  same  part  of  the  meadow 
with  the  receiving  baisins,  into  each  of  which 
the  hatching  trenches  will  carry  a  particular  spe- 
cies; and  it  results  from  this,  that  to  transfer  the 
young  of  this  species  from  the  establishment 
where  they  were  hatched  to  the  ponds  where  they 
are  to  be  converted  into  larger  growths,  there 
is  almost  nothing  to  do.  The  operation  will  be 


62  REPORT   ON    ARTIFICIAL   FISH-CULTURE. 

self-accomplished  so  to  speak;  and  from  the  sin- 
gle circumstance  of  a  happy  distribution  of  the 
different  waters  which  run  from  one  side  to  the 
other. 

When  the  spawn  have  arrived  at  the  growth 
of  young  fish  suitable  for  stocking  streams,  the 
Rhone  and  the  Rhine  canal  which  runs  between 
the  two  long  lines  of  ponds  where  these  fish  are 
kept  in  reserve,  will  itself  be  the  natural  means 
to  conduct  them  into  all  the  waters  of  France 
by  means  of  their  intercommunications.  To  attain 
to  this  object,  a  jointed  raft  should  be  made  of 
pieces  of  wood  transversely  placed,  and  connected 
by  iron  rings,  and  in  the  interstices  of  this  raft 
should  be  fastened  casks  sufficient  to  hold  the  en- 
tire supply  of  fish.  These  casks  should  be  pro- 
vided with  gratings,  so  as  to  be  permeable,  and 
contain  water  plants  so  that  the  young  fish  are 
not  injuriously  crowded. 

The  convoy  so  disposed  should  stop  succes- 
sively before  each  pond,  and  right  and  left  the 
workmen  attached  to  the  ordinary  service  of  the 
canal  will  empty  into  it  the  fish  drawn  from 
these  drains ;  then,  the  cargo  completed,  the  raft 
will  be  set  in  motion,  and  the  casks,  with  their 
bottoms  knocked  out  from  time  to  time,  will  sow 
the  fish  as  a  plow  would  sow  seed,  if  capable 
of  doing  thus  as  fast  as  it  made  furrows. 


REPORT    ON    ARTIFICIAL    FISH-CULTURE.  63 

When  the  convoy   will   pass  the  point  of  junc- 
tion  of  another   water-course    one    of  its   sections 
as   they  are  fastened  by  rings,  could  be  detached 
as  a   wagon    is   from   a   train,   and    given    to    the 
I'lio'ineers  of  the   country  traversed  by  this  stream 
of  water;    these    engineers  will   take   the    portion 
of  the    convoy   in   question,  in   order  to   empty  it 
in  the  localities  which  appear  to  them  the  fittest 
to    the   purpose,   and    so    ascertained    beforehand, 
and  then  will  return  it  to  the  point  of  departure, 
so   that   on   its   arrival   thither,   the   great   convoy 
may  unite  all  the  detached  fragments,  and  render 
them    to    the    establishment    in   order   to   take   a 
fresh   load,   if    the    first   has   been    insufficient,   or 
to  wait  until  a  second  crop  requires  a  new  journey, 
The  restocking  of  all  the  waters  of  France  will 
be   accomplished    then    easily,   since,   on   the    one 
hand  the   officers   of  the   roads   and   bridges   will 
answer   for   the    requirements    of  the    service,  and 
on  the    other,  the    organization   of  the    entire  es- 
tablishment, will   require    but    a   first    expenditure 
of    22,000    francs,  necessary   for   the    construction 
of  the   shed,  the  guard-house,  the    digging  of  the 
ponds,  the  purchase  of  tools,  and  of  twenty  acres 
of  ground  to  be    enclosed  in  the  common  already 
given  by  the   municipal   council   of   the    locality. 
The   first   expenditure,  or  an   annual   credit   of 
8,000  francs,  will   suffice   to    commence   the    work, 


64  REPORT    ON    ARTIFICIAL    FISH-CULTURE. 

to  procure  the  species  most  valued,  meet  the  cost 
of  the  daily  labor,  and  give  the  production  an 
infinite  extension. 

It  will  be  perceived,  therefore,  that  this  sum 
is  the  smallest  trifle,  compared  with  the  riches 
it  will  produce,  for  here  nothing  less  is  aimed 
at  than  to  keep  the  supply  of  food  up  to  the 
increased  consumption,  according  to  the  duty  im- 
posed on  governments;  hesitation  in  such  case  is 
allowable  only  when  an  adequate  trial  renders 
success  doubtful;  but  here  experience  has  already 
furnished  such  positive  results,  that  there  can- 
not be  the  least  doubt  of  the  success  of  the 
operation. 

Time  presses,  sir,  and  there  are  only  three 
months  before  we  come  to  the  breeding  season 
of  salmon  and  trout.  If  at  that  time  the  appa- 
ratus is  wanting  we  loose  the  most  interesting 
part  of  the  required  work.  I  trust,  then,  you  will 
give  me  the  order  for  a  credit  of  30,000  francs, 
immediately  open  to  the  engineers  of  the  Rhone 
and  Rhine  Canal,  and  I  shall  be  happy  to  offer 
you  my  assistance  for  the  organization  of  an  es- 
tablishment so  founded  and  to  take  my  part  in 
the  responsibility  of  an  enterprise  which  will  be 
a  signal  honor  to  the  administration. 

I  cannot  terminate  this  Report,  sir,  without 
speaking  to  you  of  the  propagation  of  fresh-water 


REPORT    ON     ARTIFICIAL     FISH-CULTURE.  65 

shell-fish;  experiments  which  I  have  made  under 
the  hope  of  applying  them  to  salt  water  shell- 
fish, whose  multiplication  would  not  be  difficult 
to  secure.  Here,  then,  is  an  account  of  these 
experiments: — I  placed  at  the  College  of  France, 
in  a  basin,  like  that  wherein  my  young  salmon 
live,  fed  by  a  rivulet,  a  certain  number  of  female 
craw-fish,  all  carrying  under  their  tail  their  eggs. 
At  the  end  of  twenty-five  days  all  these  eggs 
were  hatched,  and  the  basin  was  usurped  by  n 
myriad  of  young  craw-fish,  which  grew  percepti- 
bly. This  result  proves  how  easy  it  is  to  restock 
all  running  streams  which  an  abuse  of  fishing 
has  devastated,  as  though  they  had  never  been 
supplied.  The  question  is  reduced  simply  to- 
setting  apart  at  the  breeding  season,  in  the 
reservoirs  in  the  form  of  little  brooks  commu- 
nicating with  creeks  or  rivers,  all  the  females 
who  have  their  eggs  attached  to  the  appendices 
of  the  tail,  and  not  to  allow  their  consumption 
until  their  offspring  is  hatched.  This  offspring, 
retained  afterwards  for  a  period  in  propagating 
streams,  would  not  be  allowed  to  swim  through 
the  gratings  until  capable  of  taking  care  of 
themselves. 

As  to  salt  water  shell-fish,  France  possesses 
on  the  Mediterranean  shore,  immense  salt  marshes, 
where  the  females  of  these  animals  could  also 


66  REPORT    ON   ARTIFICIAL     FISH-CULTURE. 

be  retained  till  the  moment  of  hatching  their 
eggs,  as  they  carry  them  under  the  tail  like  the 
craw-fish.  If  the  experiment  succeed,  and  these 
spawn  increase  on  the  spot  sufficiently  fast,  they 
may  he  fattened  in  these  vast  receptacles.  If  on 
the  contrary,  the  conditions  are  unfavorable,  they 
should  be  at  liberty  to  go  at  large  to  seek  an- 
other spot  and  stock  our  coasts. 

But  this  is  not  the  only  use  to  which  these 
marshes  can  be  put.  The  sea-fish  are  too  much 
liked  not  to  suggest  the  means  of  multiplying 
them,  either  by  artificial  fecundation,  or  by 
transporting  the  young  fish  of  certain  kinds.  In 
favoring  the  realization  of  such  an  enterprise, 
the  state  will  have  created  in  a  few  years,  ponds 
much  richer  than  the  artificial  piscines  which 
were  dug  .at  so  great  an  expense  by  the  .Romans, 
by  the  Gulf  of  Naples ;  piscines  among  which, 
however,  those  of  Lucullus  produced  no  less 
than  four  million  sesterces,  at  a  sale  where  pre- 
.  sided  Cato  of  Utica,  in  quality  of  tutor  to  the 
son  of  this  famous  epicurean.  The  care  of  these 
immense  reservoirs  would  be  confided  to  the 
custom  officers  of  the  coast,  and  would  not  in- 
volve, consequently  expense  beyond  that  of. .fish- 
ing in  the  waters. 

While  these  measures  were  taken  to  secure  the 
multiplication  of    salt-water  fish,    it  would  natu- 


REPORT    ON  ARTIFICIAL     FISH-CULTURE.  67 

rally  lead  to  the  means  of  selling  them  for  con- 
sumption at  a  price  so  moderate,  that  districts 
farthest  off  from  their  production  _could  com- 
pete for  having  a  supply  of  such  alimentation 
for  the  laboring  classes.  You  will  find,  sir,  on 
this  question  materials  for  documents  of  great 
importance  in  practical  details,  from  time  im- 
memorial, on  the  marshes  of  Commachio,  whose 
waters  are  constantly  changed  by  the  flux  and 
reflux  of  the  Adriatic.  There  a  population  of 
about  four  hundred  men,  disciplined  as  if  aboard 
ship,  is  occupied  the  year  round,  in  fishing  and 
preparing  fish  for  all  parts  of  Italy,  with  which 
they  have  a  large  commerce.  It  would  be  use- 
ful, then,  to  know  the  procedures  by  which  they 
arrive  at  this  last  point. 

Accept,     Sir,    the    assurance    of   my  most   dis- 
tinguished consideration, 

COSTA. 


I  should  perhaps,  in  justice  to  the  two  fish- 
erman of  Bresse,  mention  here  that  Dr.  Haxo 
claims  that  they  have  had  great  injustice  done 
them,  both  by  M.  Edwards  and  M.  Costa.  He 
insists  that  they  are  the  original  discoverers,  that 
their  discovery  has  been  stolen  from  them  by 
naturalists,  who  claim  it  as  theirs,  or  as  belonging 
to  discoveries  of  a  past  century. 


68  COMMENT. 

In    refering    to   M.  Edwards'     report  he   says : 
"After,  reading  it,  who   would  not   be   led   to  be- 
live,   that  the    processes  of   artificial  fecundation 
were   not  perfectly  known,  at    least  by   Savants  ? 
But  notwithstanding  this,  M.   de  Quatrefages  says 
not  a  word   of  them    in  the   memoir  he    presen- 
ted to  the   Institute  in  1848 ;   while  on  the  other 
hand,  when  the   letter  which  I  addressed  to  that 
learned  body  on  the  2nd  March,  1849,  was  read 
by  M.  Flourens,   it  was  received  according  to  the 
testimony   of    Abbe   Moigno,   who  was   present   at 
the  meeting,  with  the   most  unequivocal   demon- 
strations  of  surprise  and  satisfaction  on  the    part 
of  all  the  members  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences. 
M.  Milne-Edwards  was  then  immediately  appoin- 
ted as   one   of    the    commission  to    examine    my 
report  in   conjunction    with  Messrs.  Dumeril  and 
Valenciennes.    How  does    it  happen  that  he   did 
not  then  inform   his   colleagues   that  the    matter 
had  been  long  before  known?     How  was   it  that 
he   did    not  then    and    there  announce   that  not 
only  the  processes  of    artificial    fecundation  had 
been  very  many  years  before  described  by   Gold- 
stein, by  Duhamel  du  Monceau,  and  by  Jacobi,  but 
that    they    had    been    successfully    practiced    in 
Scotland?    Why   did  he   wait  before   making  any 
such   statements,  until  he   was    officially   charged 
by    the  Minister    of  Agriculture   and  Commerce, 


COMMENT.  69 

to  go  to  the  place  and  examine  the  results  of  the 
labors  of  the  two  Vosgian  fishermen  ?  We  leave  all 
such  reflections  as  these  to  the  sense  of  the 
reader." 

With  this  quarrel  we  are  not  directly  inter- 
ested ;  yet  we  may  be  allowed  to  express  the 
opinion,  that  neither  M.  Edwards  nor  M.  Costa 
would  knowingly  rob  two  humble  fishermen  of  a 
single  laurel.  And  yet  there  does  appear  to  be 
something  not  quite  right  on  the  part  of  those 
naturalists  who  claim  the  discovery  as  theirs.  It 
does  seem  a  little  singular  that  among  so  many 
claimants  for  the  honor  of  the  discovery,  noth- 
ing had  been  said  about  it,  until  after  Dr.  Haxo 
presented  it  to  the  notice  of  the  Academy  of 
Sciences.  That  Gehin  and  Remy  made  the  dis- 
covery there  can  be  no  doubt  whatever,  and  to 
them  belongs  the  credit  of  any  valuable  appli- 
cation. 


CHAPTER    VII.  ^. 

GROWTH     OF     FISH. 

We  have  seen  by  the  Reports  of  M.  Milne- 
Edwards  and  M.  Costa,  as  well  as  from  other 
sources,  what  the  French  Government  have  done, 
and  are  continuing  to  do  for  the  recreation  of 
Fisheries,  by  making  large  appropriations  of  money 
and  appointing  competent  persons  to  conduct  and 
superintend  them. 

The  question  naturally  arises  whether  the 
enterprise  justifies  the  amount  of  care,  time,  at- 
tention and  money  which  the  French  Government 
is  devoting  to  it.  For  the  benefit  of  those  who 
may  regard  the  project  as  more  Utopian  than 
practical  or  beneficial,  I  will  subjoin  facts  well 
authenticated.  The  following  are  the  results  of 
experiments  made  in  Scotland  with  the  Salmo 
Solar  known  by  the  common  name  of  Salmon. 

In  November  and  December  1853  about  300,000 
eggs  were  deposited  in  hatching  boxes  at  Stor- 
montfield,  near  Perth.  In  April  and  May,  1854 
the  hatching  took  place,  and  on  the  15th  of 
April  the  young  fish  were  first  observed  at  large 
in  the  troughs.  In  June  1854  the  young  fish  hav- 


GROWTH   OF    FISH.  71 

ing  attained  a  length  of  about  one  and  a  half 
inches  were  introduced'  to  the  larger  sphere  of 
the  pond,  where  they  were  carefully  fed  and 
attended  for  twelve  months.  In  May  and  June 
1855,  the  young  fry  having  attained  the  size  of 
what  is  familarly  known  as  smolts,  were  marked 
by  cutting  off  the  adipose  fin;  about  one  in  a 
hundred  only  were  thus  marked  and  liberated. 

Some  of  the  young  fish  remained  in  the  pond 
but  a  large  majority  proceeded  to  the  sea. 

The  largest  of  the  smolts  which  left  the 
place  of  their  nativity  in  May  and  June  meas- 
ured no  more  than  about  seven  inches  in  length 
and  weighed  from  one  half  to  two  ounces 'only.  In 
August  1855  a  portion  of  them,  returned  from 
the  sea,  after  an  absence  of  about  two  months 
only.  The  marked  ones  were  weighed,  and  the 
smallest  one  was  found  to  weigh  3|-  pounds,  ano- 
ther weighed  5  pounds,  one  5£  pounds,  one  of  5f 
pounds,  one  of  7£  pounds,  and  one  of  9|  pounds. 
This  latter  one  measured  over  two  and  a  half 
feet  in  length.  The  whole  number  that  left  the 
pond  as  smolts  were  above  200,000. 

Such  an  increase  of  growth  is  almost  incredi- 
ble, especially  when  we  consider  that  they  received 
no  attention  whatever.  It  is  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose that  one-half  of  the  200,000  returned,  in  fact 
it  would  be  no  exaggeration  to  state  that  three- 


72  GROWTH    OF    FISH. 

fourths  of  the  whole  returned.  Such  an  increase 
in  actual  wealth,  is  without  a  parallel  in  any 
other  branch  of  human  industry  with  which  I 
am  acquainted. 

With  proper  care  and  suitable  waters,  other 
varieties  of  fish  will  increase  in  growth  with  a 
rapidity  almost  equaling  that  of  the  Salmon. 
Near  Brussels,  in  the  waters  of  the  Boitsford 
successful  experiments  have  been  made  with  the 
Pike.  In  October  1852  about'  2,000  Pike  were 
placed  in  these  waters  and  left  as  stock — none 
of  which  weighed  over  two  pounds.  Sixteen 
months  afterwards,  these  fish  were  taken  with 
the  rod  and  line,  many  of  them  weighing  six 
pounds  and  over.  All  of  them  were  indigenous 
to  those  waters  ;  but  it  was  found  that  fish  not 
indigenous  increased  much  more  rapidly  in  weight 
than  the  indigenous  ones.  Another  Pike  from 
neighboring  waters  placed  in  those  near  Brussels 
was  found  to  have  increased  from  3^  to  8£ 
pounds  in  eleven  months.  I  could  add  numerous 
cases  of  well  authenticated  facts,  if  I  deemed  it 
necessary  to  prove  the  rapid  growth  of  fish. 

From  the  above  statement  of  facts,  every  re- 
flecting mind  must  be  convinced  that  the  course 
pursued  by  the  French  Government  is  a  wise 
one  as  far  as  political  economy  is  concerned,  and 
most  unquestionably  humanitarian  so  far  as  the 
social  interest  is  concerned. 


GROWTH    OF    FISH.  73 

Our  state  and  National  Governments  would 
confer  a  lasting  benefit  on  the  citizens  of  the 
State  and  Union,  were  they  to  follow  the  example 
of  the  French  Government  in  this  respect. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THK     CONSTRUCTION    OF    PONDS. 


THIS  cut  will  convey  to  the  reader  an  idea 
of  the  plan  adopted  by  Prof.  Ackley  and  myself. 
The  cut  is  not  intended  to  represent  the  shape 


THE    CONSTRUCTION    OF    PONDS.  75 

of  the  ponds  but  merely  the  plan.  These  ponds 
are  situated  in  a  deep  ravine,  of  about  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  rods  in  length,  the  water  being 
supplied  from  numerous  large  springs  along  the 
whole  course  of  the  ravine.  The  lower  pond  is 
much  the  largest,  being  some  fifty  rods  or  more 
in  length,  four  or  five  rods  in  breadth,  and  some 
twenty  feet  deep.  The  middle  one  is  about  half 
the  size  of  the  lower  one ;  the  upper  one  is  still 
smaller.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  distance 
between  the  two  lower  ponds  is  much  greater 
than  it  is  between  the  two  upper  ones,  and  the 
distance  that  the  water  has  to  pass  is  greatly 
increased  by  putting  in  a  flume  zig  zaged  in  the 
manner  shown  in  the  cut.  This  flume  or  aque- 
duct is  constructed  of  plank,  and  is  about  three 
feet  wide  and  near  two  feet  deep,  and  has  parti- 
tions placed  in  it  every  six  feet  through  its  entire 
length.  These  partitions  are  merely  plank  placed 
edgewise  across  the  flume,  and  are  ten  inches 
broad.  A  notch  is  cut  in  the  middle  of  the  upper 
edge  of  each  plank,  of '  a  V  shape,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  directing  the  water  through  at  one  point, 
in  order  that  the  trout  may  the  more  easily  pass 
up  and  down  the  flume.  By  means  of  this  flume 
and  its  partitions  (which  are  in  fact  a  succession 
of  little  dams,)  we  convert  a  small  stream  of 
water  into  one  of :  quite  respectable  magnitude. 


76  THE    CONSTRUCTION    OF    PONDS. 

The  whole  floor  of  the  flume  is  to  be  cov- 
ered with  fine  and  coarse  gravel,  and  when  com- 
pleted the  water  will  he  about  six  inches  in 
depth,  making  as  nice  a  place  for  them  to  deposit 
their  eggs  as  the  most  fastidious  trout  could 
desire. 

I  may  remark  here  that  although  we  do  not 
intend  to  propagate  trout  by  the  natural  process, 
yet  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  they  have  all 
the  facilities  for  depositing  their  eggs,  or  we 
should  fail  altogether  in  propagating  either  na- 
turally or  artificially,  as  trout  must  have  shallow-, 
running  water  to  deposit  their  eggs,  or  they  will 
cease  spawning  altogether.  A  great  many  kinds 
of  fish  require  nothing  more  than  a  simple  pond 
for  breeding  purposes,  all  of  which  will  be  de- 
scribed in  the  proper  place. 

For  trout  it  is  very  desirable  to  have  a  suc- 
cession of  ponds,  in  order  to  keep  the  different 
broods  separate,  or  the  young  fish  will  be  de- 
voured by  the  older  ones.  I  have  seen  a  two 
year  old  trout  swallow  a  yearling.  This  may 
look,  to  persons  unacquainted  with  the  habits  of 
this  fish,  a  little  fishy,  but  it  is  true  nevertheless. 

The  points  in  the  cut  marked  A,  are  springs, 
the  heads  of  which  are  formed  into  pools  of 
about  thirty  feet  in  diameter,  and  eighteen  inches 
deep,  the  bottoms  being  overlaid  with  gravel.  B 


THE    CONSTRUCTION    OF    PONBS.  i( 

is  the  hatching-house  described  in  a  former  chapter. 

After  the  young  trout  attain  to  the  size  of 
about  an  inch  or  little  over  in  length,  or  are  old; 
enough  to  take  food,  they  should  be  transferred 
from  the  hatching-house  to  these  pools  where 
they  are  to  remain  for  a  year;  they  are  then  to 
be  transferred  to  the  upper  pond  where  they  re- 
main another  year;  on  the  following  year  they 
are  let  into  the  middle  pond  by  means  of  a 
spout  or  conductor,  with  a  gate  at  the  upper  end; 
this  conductor  should  be  made  of  durable  ma- 
terial, and  be  laid  sufficiently  low  in  the  dam 
to  let  the  water  together  with  the  fish  run  from 
the  upper  into  the  middle  pond. 

The  same  arrangement  is  made  in  the  mid- 
dle dam,  and  the  fish  after  remaining  in  the 
middle  pond  a  year,  are  let  into  the  lower  pond. 
The  pools  and  the  two  upper  ponds  are  to  be 
supplied  from  year  to  year  by  successive  crops 
so  that  none  of  them  are  empty. 

When  springs  have  not  sufficient  length  for 
such  a  succession  of  ponds,  or  perhaps  only  one 
dam,  the  young  trout  may  be  kept  for  a  year 
in  tanks  or  a  pool,  the  water  being  supplied  by 
a  spring,  and  then  transferred  to  the  pond,  where 
they  must  run  their  chance  of  being  devoured; 
if,  however,  the  old  fish  are  well  fed,  the  pro- 
bability is,  a  great  proportion  of  the  young  fry 
would  escape. 


78  THE     CONSTRUCTION     OF    PONDS 

The  spill,  or  place  where  the  water  makes 
its  exit  when  the  ponds  are  full,  must  be  pro- 
tected by  wire  screens  to  prevent -the  escape  of 
the  fish. 

I  would  observe  here,  that  the  foregoing  ar- 
rangement of  ponds  and  spawning  grounds  are 
essential  to  the  rearing  of  trout,  only ;  for  all 
other  kinds  of  fish  mentioned  in  this  work,  no 
such  arrangement  for  spawning  purposes  is  needed, 
but  simply  gravelly  shoals  near  the  margins  of 
the  pond  will  be  sufficient. 

In  a  great  majority  of  cases,  fish  ponds  can 
be  so  arranged  as  to  -serve  the  double  purpose  of 
a  fish-pond,  and  at  the  same  time  greatly  beautify 
the  grounds.  The  size  of  the  pond  should  be 
proportionate  to  the  supply  of  water,  or  the  wa- 
ter may  become  too  stagnant  to  have  healthy 
fish.  The  quality  of  the  water  is  however  greatly 
improved  by  introducing  aquatic  plants,  which 
also  adds  much  to  its.  beauty.  Among  the  most 
suitable  plants  for  this  purpose,  I  would  men- 
tion the  white  water  Lily,  Nymphfea  Odorata, 
Egyptian  Lilly,  Calla  Ethiopica,  Arrowhead,  Sagit- 
taria  Sagittifolia — for  small  ponds,  but  for  large 
ones  to  these  might  be  added  the  Sacred  Bean, 
Nelumbium,  Speciosum,  which  is  a  large  lily  with 
pink  flowers,  N.  Luteum  with  yellow  flowers;  the 
latter  is  indigenous  to  the  Southern  States.  The 


THE    CONSTRUCTION    OP    PONDS.  79 

shores  of  ponds  may  be  planted  with  various 
species  of  the  more  aquatic  Iris,  or  sword-leaf 
lilies.  All  of  the  former  should  he  planted  in 
the  water  near  the  margin.  These  are  all  beau- 
tiful  flowering  plants,  and  will  flourish  in  such 
situations.  < 

•  Great  care  should  be  had  in  constructing 
dams,  with  reference  to  strength  and  durability. 
There  should  be  an  ample  spill  in  case  of  floods, 
with  strong  wire  screens  to  prevent  the  escape 
of  the -fish;  these  screens  may  be  made  of  iron 
wire  of  £  inch  diameter,  cut  in  pieces  of  a 
length  equal  to  the  depth  of  the  spill;  this  may 
be  one  foot  or  more ;  these  rods  should  then  be 
set  at  equal  distances  from  each  other  in  a  frame 
of  wood,  and  close  enough  to  prevent  the  pas- 
sage of  the  fish ;  this  frame  is.  then  to  be  se- 
curely fastened  at  the  outlet  or  spill.  Screens 
for  young  fish  when  they  are  quite  small,  may  be 
made  of  wire  cloth  such  as  is  used  for  seives,  the 
meshes  of  which  should  be  small  enough  to  pre- 
vent their  escape. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

BROOK,    OR    SPECKLED    TROUT. 

This  fish  belongs  to  the  family  Salmonidce,  of 
Naturalists,  some  of  the  characteristics  of  which 
are,  body  more  or  less  scaly,  two  dorsal  fins,  the 
first  articulated  rays,  the  second  adipose,  or  fatty. 
The  different  species  inhabiting  fresh  and  salt 
water. 

The  Brook  Trout,  then,  belongs  to  the  genus 
Salmo,  species  Salmo  Fontinalis.  Its  beautiful 
figure,  its  gay  colors,  and  the  gracefulness  of  its 
motions,  must  be  seen  to  be  appreciated.  No  de- 
scription that  has  ever  been  given,  does  him 
justice.  His  haunts  are  among  the  wildest  and 
most  picturesque  scenery  imaginable.  The  fol- 
lowing cut  represents  a  female  Trout,  which  we 
have  in  our  pond,  and  which  has  become  very 
tame. 

It  is  found  from  our  most  northern  States, 
as  far  .south  as  Virginia — rarely  in  the  western 
States.  In  a  few  streams  in  north-eastern  Ohio 
they  were  found  in  abundance,  thirty  or  forty 
years,  since,  and  a  few  are  yet  to  be  found  on 
the  head  waters  of  the  Chagrin  river;  but  in  a 


"    -•  '•  . 


I 


t 

r* 

BROOK  OR  SPECKLED  TROUT.  83 

very  short  period  of  time,  they  must  become 
extinct,  unless  measures  are  taken  for  their  re- 
production. 

This  charming  fish  is  equally  the  delight  of 
the  sportsman,  and  the  epicure.  It  stands  un- 
rivaled as  a  game  fish,  and  for  the  table  is 
thought  to  have  no  superior,  particularly  when 
in  its  highest  condition,  which  is  just  before  the 
spawning  season. 

They  are  found  in  their  highest  perfection  in 
the  tributaries  of  Lake  Superior,  and  its  outlet 
particularly  at  the  Saut  Ste.  Marie.  In  these 
immense  rapids  are  taken  the  finest  trout  that 
are  found  in  the  American  waters.  Very  large 
trout  are  taken  in  Lake  Superior,  near  the 
mouths  of  trout  streams,  where  the  shores  are 
rocky,  and  among  its  numerous  islands,  particu- 
larly Isle  Royale. 

The  body  of  this  fish  is  covered  with  small 
scales,  hardly  observable  to  the  naked  eye  in 
small  specimens;  the  upper  part  of  the  body 
and  head  are  most  beautifully  mottled  like  tor- 
toise shell,  the  colors  being  greenish  brown  with 
yellow;  colors  more  brilliant  on  the  sides  with, 
the  addition  of  very  bright  vermillion  spots,  in 
irregular  rows,  above  and  below  the  lateral  line. 
A  portion  of  the  belly  and  sides,  being  tinted 
with  carmine,  the  pectoral  and  ventral  fins  or- 
5 


84  BROOK  OR  SPECKLED  TROUT. 

ange,  inclining  to  red,  with  a  dark  margin;  ana! 
fin  red,  with  white  margin,  and  a  black  streak 
between  the  white  and  red;  caudal  fin  darkish 
red,  inclining  to  brown;  first  dorsal  fin  yellowish,, 
barred  or  spotted  irregularly  with  black. 

All  these  colors  are  greatly  heightened  at  the 
spawning  season,  particularly  in  the  male.  At 
this  time,  he  has  projecting  from  the  tip  of  the 
lower  jaw,  a  conical  knob,  which  is  received  in 
a  corresponding  groove  in  the  upper  jaw.  Its 
great  brilliancy  of  color  at  this  season,  together 
with  this  peculiarity  of  the  jaws,  has  led  De  Kay 
into  the  error  of  describing  it  as  a  distinct  species, 
under  the  name  of  salmo  Erythrogaster,  or  red- 
bellied  trout.  He  has  also  described  another 
fish,  under  the  name  of  spotted  troutlet,  Baione 
Fontinalis,  which  is  nothing  more  than  the  young 
of  the  brook  trout,  thus  making  three  distinct 
species  out  of  one.  The  cut  at  the  head  of  this 
article,  gives  a  correct  idea  of  the  form  of  the 
speckled  trout ;  it  was  drawn  from  a  living  fish? 
the  Naiad  Queen,  one  of  the  parent  fishes  ex- 
hibited at  the  Cuyahoga  County  Fair,  in  1854. 

In  size,  the  brook  trout  varies  a  good  deal; 
a  few  have  been  caught  weighing  ten  pounds, 
though  they  rarely  attain  to  this  size,  five  pounds 
being  considered  a  very  large  fish. 

The  Brook  Trout  inhabits  none  but  the  pur- 


r 


BROOK  OR  SPECKLED  TROUT.  85 

cst  waters,  such  as  mountain  streams,  spring 
brooks,  and  lakelets,  in  which  the  water  is  pure 
and  cold.  Their  growth  depends  much  upon  the 
size  of  the  stream  they  occupy;  if  in  a  small 
spring  brook,  they  would  rarely  exceed  from 
four  to  six  ounces  in  weight ;  but  if  placed  in 
a  large  river,  or  lakelet,  they  may  attain  to 
as  many  pounds,  or  even  more. 

Their  food  consists  of  aquatic  insects,  and 
small  fishes.  They  are  remarkably  shy  and 
wary,  but  when  domesticated,  will  become  so 
tame  and  gentle,  as  to  take  food  from  the 
hand.  Of  all  fish,  this  is  the  most  desirable 
for  fish  culture,  and  should  be  selected  in  pre- 
ference to  any  other,  provided  the  quality  of  the 
k  water  will  be  congenial  to  its  wants. 

SPAWNING. 

The  spawning  season  commences  about  the  first 
of  October,  and  continues  nearly  two  months,  but 
a  majority  are  through  by  the  15th  or  20th  of  the 
month.  They  invariably  seek  very  shoal,  gravelly 
rapids  for  depositing  their  eggs,  and  prepare  their 
beds  by  digging  a  cavity  of  from  one  to  two  feet 
in  diameter,  and  two  or  three  inches  in  depth ;  by 
agitating  the  water  in  these  beds,  the  fine  sand 
and  earthy  matter  is  got  clear  of,  leaving  the  bot- 
tom of  the  bed  covered  with  clean,  coarse  gravel. 


86  BROOK  OR  SPECKLED  TROUT. 

In  this  the  eggs  are  deposited,  together  with  the 
milt,  one  pair  of  fish  always  occupying  one  bed ; 
several  pairs  of  trout  may,  however;  occupy  the 
same  rapids  or  ripple.  You  will  rarely  find  them 
occupying  a  rapid,  unless  there  is  a  deep  hole 
or  hiding  place  close  at  hand  and  above  the  ripple. 
When  frightened,  they  immediately  run  to  their 
hiding  place ;  but  if  not  further  disturbed,  will 
in  a  few  moments  return  to  their  bed. 

ARTIFICIAL    BREEDING. 

In  order  to  procure  eggs  for  artificial  breed- 
ing, the  parent  fish  must  always  be  taken*  on  the 
spawning  beds,  and  after  they  have  commenced 
depositing  their  eggs,  or  they  will  be  premature 
and  useless,  as  they  cannot  be  impregnated.  If 
the  eggs  are  mature,  they  will  flow  from  the 
female  trout,  with  a  very  slight  pressure,  as  the 
cellular  tissue  will  have  been  absorbed,  and  the 
eggs  lie  loosely  in  the  ovaduct. 

HOW    TO     CATCH    THEM. 

The  parent  fish  must  be  taken  by  means  of 
nets,  as  they  will  not  touch  any  kind  of  bait 
while  engaged  in  spawning.  A  common  landing 
net  does  well  for  this  purpose,  where  they  are 
in  a  very  small  stream.  A  very  excellent  net, 
is  one  that  is  made  after  the  fashion  of  a  seine. 
It  should  be  three  or  four  feet  long,  by  two 


BROOK  OR  SPECKLED  TROUT.  87 

and  a  half  feet  wide ;  the  lower,  or  lead  line, 
mounted  with  sinkers,  and  the  ends  mounted 
\vith  a  couple  of  sticks,  or  handles,  ( termed  by 
fishermen  brails.)  These  handles  should  be  about 
four  feet  long.  Each  end  of  the  lead  line  is  fast- 
ened to  the  lower  end  of  the  handles;  the  up- 
per, or  cork  line,  is  to  be  fastened  the  width  of 
the  net  above  where  the  lead  line  is  fastened. 
By  taking  hold  of  the  two  handles,  you  can  spread 
the  net  out  before  you;  standing  between  the 
handles,  in  this  way,  it  can  be  slipped  under 
banks,  where  they  hide,  or  in  holes,  and  not  un- 
frequently  they  can  be  dipped  up  while  running 
from  their  beds,  if  you  are  standing  in  the  stream 
above  them. 

HOW     TO    EXTRUDE    THE    EGGS. 

The  manner  of  extruding  the  eggs,  has  been 
given  in  a  previous  chapter;  also  their  manage- 
ment. 

INCUBATION. 

Their  term  of  incubation  will  depend  some- 
what upon  the  temperature  of  the  water  in  which 
they  are  placed.  With  us  the  young  trout  begin 
to  make  their  appearance  in  eight  weeks,  the  water 
being  42»  Fahrenheit;  but  some  will  not  make 
their  apperance  until  two  or  three  week  later. 


88  BROOK    OR    SPECKLKD    TROUT. 

TREATMENT    OF    THE   YOUNG    FISH. 

After  the  young  fry  leave  their  eggs,  they 
may  be  suffered  to  remain  for  a  few  days,  in  the 
hatching  hoxes,  or  they  may  be  removed  at  once 
into  small  tanks,  or  boxes,  having  fresh  water 
running  through  them  ;  the  place  where  the  water 
enters,  and  where  it  makes  its  exit,  being  guard- 
ed by  wire  cloth,  to  prevent  the  escape  of  the 
rish.  A  box  three  feet  long,  by  two  feet  broad, 
and  one  foot  deep,  would  be  sufficiently  large  to 
hold  one  or  two  thousand.  When  about  two 
7Tionths  old,  they  should  be  placed  in  larger 
tanks,  or  what  would  be  still  better,  a  pool  of 
water,  fed  by  a  good  spring.  It  would  be  well 
to  have  a  nice,  clean,  gravelly  bottom,  with  some 
large  stones  thrown  in,  which  would  afford  them 
hiding  places.  If  the  pool  could  be  shaded  from 
the  rays  of  the  sun,  it  would  be  much  better, 
as  the  water  would  be  cooler,  during  the  hot 
days  of  summer. 

FOOD. 

The  young  fish  need  no  feeding,  for  about 
one  month  after  they  leave  the  egg.  As  they 
draw,  or  receive  their  nutriment  from  the  um- 
bilical vesicle,  or  bladder,  which  is  shown  in  the 
cut,  when  this  bladder,  is  absorbed,  they  will  need 
feeding,  but  only  in  small  quantities,  as  the 
surplus  falls  to  the  bottom,  and  decomposes. 


BROOK    OR    SPECKLED    TROUT.  89 

contaminating  the'  water  and  rendering  the  fish 
unhealthy.  It  has  been  ascertained  that  the  lean 
flesh  of  animals,  when  boiled,  is  an  excellent 
article  of  food  for  young  fish,  or  even  old  ones. 
As  the  young  fish  are  very  small,  it  is  neces- 
sary, to  hash  it  up  into  very  fine  particles,  or 
they  will  not  be  able  to  swallow  it;  in  fact,  it 
should  be  pounded  or  grated  very  fine,  but  as 
they  increase  in  size,  it  may  be  given  in  coarser 
particles.  The  flesh  of  other  kinds  of  fishes, 
where  they  are  plenty,  would  be  an  excellent 
substitute  for  the  flesh  of  animals,  either  cooked 
or  uncooked ;  I  think  this  kind  of  food,  preferable 
to  any  other. 

PONDS. 

It  would  be  well  to  keep  the  young  fry  in 
small  pools,  or  tanks,  until  they  are  a  year  old, 
before  removing  them  into  the  pond,  or  stream, 
as  you  can  have  them  under  your  immediate 
observation  and  inspection,  which  is  of  a  good 
deal  importance,  at  this  tender  age.  After  they  are 
of  a  suitable  age  to  be  turned  into  the  pond 
or  stream,  as  the  case  may  be,  if  very  numerous, 
they  will  still  need  to  be  fed,  occasionally,  once 
per  week  at  least,  but  if  fed  all  they  will  eat, 
it  would  be  still  better  and  far  more  profitable. 

MORE    ABOUT     FEEDING. 

It  is  perfectly  astonishing  how  rapidly  they  grow 


90  BROOK    OR    SPECKLED    TROUT. 

after  the  first  year,  particularly  if  well  fed;  and 
as  a  lean  and  poor  conditioned  fish,  though  a 
trout,  is  one  of  the  most  miserable  of  dishes 
ever  set  upon  the  tahle,  the  fish  intended  for  use, 
should  be  taken  from  the  pond,  selecting  the 
largest  ones,  and  put  into  a  tank  or  pool,  three 
weeks  or  more  before  killing,  and  fed  all  they 
can  eat;  in  a  word,  they  should  be  stall  fed. 
This  may  seem  a  little  fanciful,  but  I  can 
assure  any  one  who  will  try  the  experiment,  that 
he  will  find  his  account  in  so  doing.  In  order 
to  be  able  at  any  time  to  take  a  quantity  of 
fish  from  your  pond,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
have  uniform  places  of  feeding,  and  they  will 
generally  stay  at  or  near  these  particular  loca- 
tions, where  they  can  be  taken  either  with  a 
rod  or  a  ne't. 

BEST     METHODS     OF      ANGLING    FOR    TROUT. 

There  is  no  fish  of  its  size,  that  affords  such 
excellent  sport  as  the  Brook  Trout.  It  is  con- 
sidered a  prize  worthy  the  most  accomplished 
angler,  and  a  dainty  always  welcome  to  the  most 
fastidious  epicure.  Among  the  patrons  of  this 
captivating  sport,  have  been  found  persons  of  the 
highest  attainments.  Statesmen,  Divines,  Poets, 
and  in  fact,  persons  from  all  classes  of  society, 
have  been  zealous  patrons  of  what  has  been  not 


BROOK  OR  SPECKLED  TROUT.  91 

unaptly  termed  the  gentle  art.  It  has  been  the 
theme  of  some  of  the  most  brilliant  poets  of 
modern  times.  No  angler  can  read  the  following 
lines  from  Thompson  without  feeling  a  thrill  of 
delight : 

"Just  in  the  dubious  point,  where  with  the  pool, 

Is  mix'd  the  trembling  stream,  or  where  it  boils 

Around  the  stone,  or  from  the  hollow'd  bank 

Reverted,  plays  in  undulating  flow; 

There  throw  nice-judging,  the  delusive  fly; 

And  as  you  lead  it  round  in  artful  curve, 

"With  eye  attentive  mark  the  springing  game. 

Straight  as  above  the  surface  of  the  flood 

They  wanton  rise,  or  urged  by  hunger  leap, 

Then  fix  with  gentle  twitch,  the  barbed  hook; 

Some,  lightly  tossing  to  the  grassy  bank, 

And  to  the  shelving  shore,  slow  dragging  some, 

With  various  hand,  proportioned  to  their  force, 

If  yet  too  young,  and  easily  deceived, 

A  worthless  prey  scarce  bends  your  pliant  rod, 

Him,  piteous  of  his  youth  and  the  short  space 

He  has  enjoyed  the  vital  light  of  Heaven, 

Soft  disengage  and  back  into  the  stream 

The  speckled  captive  throw.     But  should  you  lure 

From  his  dark  haunt  beneath  the  tangled  roots 

Of  pendant  trees,  the  monarch  of  the  brook 

Behooves  you  then  to  ply  your  finest  art. 

Long  time  he,  following  cautious,  scans  the  fly; 

And  oft  attempts  to  seize  it,  but  as  oft 

The  dimpled  water  speaks  his  jealous  fear. 

At  last,  while  haply  o'er  the  shaded  sun 

Passes  a  cloud,  he  desperate  takes  the  death 

With  sullen  plunge.     At  once  he  darts  along, 

Deep  struck,  and  runs  out  all  the  lengthened  line; 

Then  seeks  the  farthest  ooze,  the  sheltering  weed, 

The  cavern'd  bank,  his  old  secure  abode , 

And  flies  aloft  and  flounces  round  the  pool 

Indignant  of  the  guile       With  yielding  hand, 


92  BROOK  OR  SPECKLED  TROUT. 

That  feels  him  still,  yet  to  his  furious  course 
Gives  way,  you,  now  retiring,  following  now, 
Across  the  stream,  exhaust  his  idle  rage  ; 
Till  floating  broad  upon  his  breathless  side, 
And  to  his  fate  abandoned,  to  the  shore 
You  gaily  dm.?  your  unresisting  prize." 

FISHING   TACKLE. 

The  implements  for  trout  fishing  are  a  rod 
eleven  or  twelve  feet  long,  if  for  a  single-hand- 
ed rod;  if  for  both  hands,  or  two-handed  rod, 
it  should  be  sixteen  or  seventeen  feet  in  length. 
A  landing  net  and  kreel,  or  basket  for  carrying 
your  captured  fish.  Near  the  lower  end  of  the 
rod  should  be  attached  a  reel  capable  of  holding 
one  or  two  hundred  feet  of  line;  the  line  may 
be  of  silk,  hair  and  silk  twisted  together,  or  hair 
alone,  or  even  linen  makes  a  good  line.  For 
myself,  I  prefer  a  silk  line.  To  the  end  of  the 
line  is  attached  about  nine  or  ten  feet  of  silk- 
worm gut ;  at  the  end  of  the  gut  is  attached  an 
artificial  fly,  three  feet  above  this  is  attached 
another,  and  three  feet  above  this,  still  another. 
These  are  all  that  is  necessary  for  fly  fishing, 
which  affords  by  far  the  prettiest  sport.  The 
very  best  of  fishing  tackle  of  every  variety,  can 
be  procured  of  Mr.  Conroy,  New  York.  His  rods 
are  unequalled,  and  so  I  may  say  of  all  his 
fishing  tackle.  Very  many  rods  are  sold  as 
Conroy's  which  are  not  of  his  make.  I  would 


BROOK  OR  SPECKLED  TROUT.  98 

therefore  advise  persons  wishing  good  rods  and 
tackle,  to  make  their  purchase  of  Mr.  Conroy 
himself,  and  they  will  not  be  disappointed. 


ARTIFICIAL     FLY. 


Very  little  can  be  said,  by  way  of  directing 
the  new  beginner  how  to  use  the  artificial  fly, 
as  it  can  only  be  learned  by  practice.  I  will  say, 
however,  that  the  new  beginner  should  commence 
with  one  fly,  or  two  at  most;  nor  should  he  at- 
tempt to  make  a  long  cast  at  first.  After  he 
gets  sufficiently  dextrous  to  throw  his  fly  at  a 
short  distance,  to  a  given  point,  he  may  practice 
his  hand  at  longer  distances,  and  when  sufficiently 
expert,  he  may  add  the  second  and  third  fly.  In 
lakes  or  broad  rivers,  when  the  water  is  clear, 
it  is  necessary  to  make  long  casts,  as  the  trout 
are  so  very  shy,  they  will  not  rise  close  to  you, 
particularly  the  larger  ones.  When  making  a 
cast,  the  flies  should  be  dropped  very  gentle  on 
the  surface  of  the  water,  and  should  not  be  suf- 
fered to  remain  stationary  at  one  place,  but  is 
to  be  drawn  along  by  a  trembling  motion  com- 
municated to  the  rod,  by  means  of  the  hand; 
great  care  should  also  be  taken,  not  to  let  the 
line  drop  on  the  water,  but  simply  the  flies,  and 
a  portion  of  silk  gut  leader,  and  these  so  gently 
as  not  to  create  suspicion. 


g4  BROOK    OR    SPECKLED    TROUT. 

DROP    FISHING. 

Another  method  of  taking  trout,  is  that  which 
is  termed  drop  fishing,  which  is  merely  using  a 
baited  hook,  attached  to  the  end  of  the  line, 
having  a  sinker  placed  upon  the  line,  about  one 
foot  above  the  hook.  The  most  common  bait, 
by  far,  is  the  angle  worm,  too  well  known  to 
need  a  description.  Grasshoppers  are  also  ex- 
cellent  bait,  and  may  be  used  on  the  surface  of 
the  water,  or  sunk  beneath  it.  Small  fish  are 
sometimes  used  with  great  success,  particularly 
when  fishing  for  large  trout. 

DON'T    FRIGHTEN    THE    FISH. 

Too  much  care  cannot  be  taken,  to  avoid  be- 
ing seen  by  the  fish,  for  if  once  frightened  no 
kind  of  bait  will  tempt  them  to  bite. 

The  six  following  cuts  were  taken  from  mi- 
croscopic drawings,  made  by  myself  with  great 
care.  Fig.  1  represents  the  spermatozoa  of  the 
male  trout:  one  drop  of  the  sperm  was  put  in 
six  ounces  of  water,  and  one  drop  of  this  diluted 
sperm,  between  two  peices  of  plate-glass,  was 
placed  under  the  microscope  with  a  high  power. 
Countless  numbers  of  spermatozoids  were  seen 
moving  rapidly  in  every  direction  ;  they  were 
simply  ovoid  bodies,  having  no  caudal  appendage. 

The  cut  conveys  a  good  idea  of  their  appearance. 


BROOK    OR    SPECKLED    TROUT.  95 

They  continued  to  move  about  with  less  and 
less  vigor  for  about  an  half  hour,  when  all  motion 
ceased,  owing  no  doubt  to  loss  of  vitality. 

Fig.  2  represents  the  egg  of  the  trout  as  it 
appears  when  just  extruded  from  the  female, 
magnified  about  sixteen  diameters.  The  egg  is 
filled  with  a  multitude  of  cells  of  various  dimen- 
sions as  shown  in  the  cut. 

Fig.  3  gives  the  appearance  of  the  egg  eight 
days  after  impregnation.  The  principal  change 
observable  is  that  the  cells  are  all  congregated 
to  one  side  of  the  egg.  When  the  egg  was  agi- 
tated sufficiently  to  scatter  the  cells  they  were 
immediately  attracted  together  as  before. 

Fig.,  4  represents  the  appearance  of  the  egg 
at  twenty-five  days  after  impregnation.  The  whole 
length  of  the  embryo  fish  is  easily  traced;  the 
head  and  eyes  are  however  by  far  the  most  dis- 
tinct. Blood  vessels  are  distinctly  seen  running 
in  various  directions,  the  aorta  in  particular  be- 
ing strongly  shown. 

Fig.,  5  represents  the  egg  at  thirty-five  days 
after  impregnation.  It  will  be  seen  that  quite 
a  change  has  taken  place  in  the  last  ten  days : 
Its  vascularity  is  increased  immensely;  the  ves- 
sels given  off  from  the  aorta  being  much  longer, 
their  ramifications  much  more  extensive,  and  the 
outlines  of  the  embryo  fish  more  distinctly  mar- 


9fi  BROOK    OR    SPECKLED    TROUT. 

ked  than  in  the  preceding  cut: 'The  cells  have 
also  decreased  in  size,  their  substance  having 
heen  taken  in  part  into  the  circulation. 

Fig.,  6  shows  the  appearance  of  the  young 
trout  when  it  leaves  the  egg,  highly  magnified. 
Nothing  could  be  more  beautiful  than  every  part 
of  the  fish  when  placed  under  the  microscope , 
its  transparency  affording  to  the  observer  a  per- 
fect view  of  the  circulation  in  every  part;  the 
corpuscles  of  blood  being  not  only  shown  in  the 
arteries  and  veins,  but  also  in  both  cavities  of 
the  heart. 

[n  the  tail  and  some  other  parts  of  the  fish 
the  circulation  may  be  seen  making  the  entire 
circuit.  The  cells  by  this  time  have  become 
much  reduced  in  size,  and  appear  in  clusters  ow- 
ing to  their  absorption  in  the  more  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  vessels.  At  the  time  of  its  birth 
the  only  fins  developed  are  the  pectorals — a 
natural  size  of  the  egg — b  natural  size  of  the 
the  trout  when  it  leaves  the  egg. 

MICROSCOPIC    VIEWS HOW    OBTAINED. 

In  order  to  get  a  good  microscopic  view  of  the 
living  young  fish,  or  eggs,  during  the  process  of 
incubation,  they  should  be  placed  in  a  glass  cell, 
made  sufficiently  tight  to  hold  water.  By  this 
means  the  young  fish  may  be  kept  alive  for  quite 


BROOK  OR  SPECKLED  TROUT.  97 

a   length   of  time,    by   changing    the    water    occa- 
sionally. 

This  cell  is  made  by  taking  two  pieces  of 
thin  plate  glass  of  about  three  inches  in  length 
by  one  inch  in  width,  and  between  these  is 
placed  a  piece  of  cork  or  wood  about  the  same 
size,  and  about  one-eighth  of  an  inch  in  thick- 
ness. These  three  pieces  are  to  be  cemented 
together  by  means  of  gum  shellac  dissolved  in 
alcohol.  Before  cementing  them  together,  how- 
ever, the  cork  or  wood,  whichever  it  may  be, 
should  all  be  cut  away,  except  enough  to  close 
the  two  ends  and  one  edge  of  the  two  pieces  of 
glass,  thus  forming  a  cell,  the  two  sides  of  which 
is  formed  of  the  plate  glass,  and  the  ends  and 
bottom  are  formed  of  cork  or  wood.  The  cell 
stands  upon  its  edge  and  is  to  be  filled  with 
water,  into  which  is  placed  the  young  fish  or 
the  eggs  to  be  examined.  The  microscope,  of 
course,  must  be  placed  in  a  horizontal  position, 
with  a  strong  gas  or  lamp  light  in  front  of  the 
cell  containing  the  fish  or  eggs,  and  the  view 
will  be  most  satisfactory. 

I  made  some  very  interesting  experiments  by 
means  of  the  foregoing  fixtures,  on  young  trout. 
After  wounding  the  fish  in  some  part,  he  was 
placed  before  the  microscope  in  the  cell,  and  the 
recuperative  process  could  be  plainly  seen,  from 


98  BROOK    OR    SPECKLED  TROUT. 

time   to   time,  until  the    recovery   was    complete. 
The    above     arrangement    of    cells,    is   also   a 
most   convenient   one   for    examining    many   kinds 
of  aquatic   insects  and  animalcule. 


FIGl 


•'•o'S 

<bqr«?< 


ooO°- 


^oO/0o°o°o3%« 

12-sJi 


FIG  4 


nc.s 


CHAPTER   X. 


GRYSTES    NIGRICANS  J    OR,    BLACK    BASS. 

THIS  noble  fish  has  been  described  by  De  Kay 
under  the  name  of  Centrarchus  Fasciatus,  and  by 
Agassiz,  under  the  name  of  Grystes  Nigricans. 

DESCRIPTION. 

"The  body  is  compressed,  oval,  back  arched;  of 
a  dusky  greenish  color,  often  with  transverse 
bands,  with  three  oblique  stripes  on  the  preo- 
perculum,  or  cheek."  The  cut,  (which  is  a  good 
representation,)  and  the  description,  are  both 
taken  from  Prof.  Kirtland's  description  of  the 
fishes  of  Ohio.  The  Black  Bass,  when  full-grown, 
measures  from  twelve  to  eighteen  inches  in 


106  BLACK    BASS. 

length.  The  largest  one,  by  far,  that  I  have 
ever  seen,  was  caught  last  summer  by  Prof. 
Ackley,  in  the  Cuyahoga  river,  its  length  was  a 
little  over  twenty-two  inches,  and  must  have 
weighed  eight  pounds,  or  more. 

WHERE  FOUND. 

This  fish  is  found  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to 
the  tributaries  of  the  Ohio,  and  perhaps  still 
farther  south ;  is  quite  common  in  all  the  -rivers 
and  lakes  of  Ohio,  and  all  the  Western  States. 

He  is  a  bold  biter,  and  when  hooked,  fights 
with  the  most  determined  fury  to  the  very  last, 
affording  the  best  of  sport  to  the  angler,  and  is 
excelled  but  by  a  very  few  fish  when  placed 
upon  the  table. 

The  Black  Bass  is  among  the  best  of  fishes 
to  rear  in  artificial  ponds.  It  is  not,  however, 
so  well  suited  for  small  ponds,  it  being  a  large 
fish.  I  should  not  think  it  advisable  to  intro- 
duce it  into  a  pond  that  covers  less  than  half 
an  acre.  It  would  be  well  to  place  in  the  same 
pond,  the  fish  known  as  the  Chub,  as  they  are 
very  prolific,  and  would  afford  an  abundance  of 
food  for  the  Bass. 


The  Black    Bass     deposits     its    eggs     in    the 
months  of  April  and  May,  in  shoal  water,  digging 


BLACK    BASS.  107 

holes,  or  nests,  like  the  brook  trout.  Their  eggs 
may  be  procured  in  the  same  manner  as  that 
of  the  trout,  and  the  same  rules  will  apply,  in 
the  treatment  of  the  eggs,  and  the  young  fish, 
as  with  the  trout;  or  they  may  be  suffered  to 
deposit  their  eggs,  and  leave  them  to  chance, 
when  you  do  not  wish  to  rear  them  in  great 
numbers. 

Their  term  of  incubation  is  brief,  as  is  the 
case  with  most  of  fishes  that  deposit  their  eggs 
in  the  spring  of  the  year,  not  being  over  two  or 
three  weeks. 

BEST  METHODS   OF    ANGLING. 

The  best  bait,  by  far,  is  the  live  minnow ;  he 
will,  however,  take  a  dead  one,  if  played  about 
lively,  or  when  used  on  a  trolling  line ;  he  also 
takes  the  common  angle  worm,  but  it  is  by  no 
means  as  tempting  as  the  minnow;  he  will  also 
rise  to  the  artificial  fly,  mornings  and  evenings; 
a  large  gaudy  salmon  fly  being  the  most  likely 
to  attract  his  attention. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

GRYSTES     MEGASTOMA  |      OR,    LARGE-MOUTH     BLACK      BASS. 

This  fish  has  been  identified  with  the  com- 
mon Black  Bass,  (Grystes  Fasciatus,)  but  is  by  no 
means  the  same  fish,  differing  in  many  respects, 
both  in  its  habits  and  physical  structure,  and 
has  not  been  described  in  any  work  on  American 
fishes,  so  far  as  I  can  learn. 

The  great  distinguishing  feature  of  this  Bass, 
is  its  immense  mouth,  which  has  induced  me 
to  call  it  Grystes  Megastoma,  or  large-mouthed 
Bass. 

In  its  general  form,  it  resembles  the  common 
Black  Bass,  though  somewhat  thicker.  The  head 
is  much  larger  in  proportion  to  its  size,  and  if 
a  vertical  line  be  drawn,  passing  through  the 
center  of  the  eye,  we  shall  find  that  the  end 


LARGE-MOUTH    BLACK    BASS.  109 

of  the  upper  jaw  projects  back,  or  behind  the 
line  quite  a  distance ;  whereas,  in  the  common 
Bass,  the  jaw  will  not  reach  as  far  back  as  the 
line.  The  scales  are  much  larger,  and  thickly  set 
over  the  gill  covers.  Back,  of  a  dark,  greenish, 
olive  color,  fading  gradually  to  white  underneath. 
If  found  in  dark-colored  water,  the  white  will  be 
tinged  with  a  pinkish  hue.  A  darkish  mottled 
band,  of  about  half  an  inch  in  width,  embracing 
the  lateral  line,  traverses  the  whole  length  of  the 
body. 

Br.,  rays  6;  Dor.  23,  Spinous  9,  Soft  14;  A 
14,  Spinous  3,  Soft  11,  C  20 ;  V  6,  Spinous  1, 
Soft  5,  P.  13: 

The  cut  is  a  good  representation  of  this  fish, 
and  when  full-grown,  measures  from  twelve  to 
twenty-four  inches  in  length,  weighing  from  four 
to  ten  pounds,  being  a  much  larger  fish  than  the 
common  Black  Bass. 

WHERE    FOUND. 

They  are  found  in  the  bays  of  Lake  Erie, 
and  the  mouths  of  some  of  its  rivers.  The  little 
lakelets,  lying  twenty  or  thirty  miles  south  of 
this  city,  abound  with  them.  Great  numbers 
are  sold  in  the  Cleveland  market,  brought  from 
Toledo  and  Sandusky,  at  which  places  they  are 
called  the  Cove  Bass. 


110  LARGE-MOUTH    BLACK    BASS. 

The  places  here  mentioned  are  the  only  ones 
that  I  have  a  personal  knowledge  in  which  they 
are  found ;  but  I  have  no  doubt  they  are  abun- 
dant in  the  lakelets  of  Michigan  and  Wisconsin, 
and  probably  many  other  locations,  though  it  has 
not  so  general  a  distribution  as  the  common  Bass. 

This  fish  would  do  well  in  artificial  ponds, 
provided  the  ponds  were  of  good  size.  It  is  not, 
however,  as  well-flavored  as  the  common  Bass, 
nor  does  it  afford  as  good  sport  to  the  angler, 
being  less  active,  and  not  holding  out  near  as 
long.  Bites  freely  the  live  or  dead  minnow,  also 
the  spoon  and  squid.  Habits  in  spawning  in  all 
respects  as  the  common  Bass.  The  eggs  and 
young  fish  may  be  treated  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  Black  Bass. 


C  H  AFTER    XII. 

LABRAX    MULTILINEATUS. WHITE   BASS,    SOMETIMES 

CALLED     WHITE     PERCH. 

This  is  a  beautiful  fish,  and  is  very  abundant 
in  Lake  Erie,  and  many  of  its  tributaries.  It  is 
not  so  large  as  the  preceding  species,  rarely 
weighing  over  two  pounds.  As  an  article  of 
food,  it  has  but  very  few  superiors,  and  gives 
fine  sport  to  the  angler. 

The  cut  is  a  good  representation  of  this  fish 
which  is  so  well  known  as  hardly  to  need  a 
description. 

Its  color  is  light  olive  on  its  head  and  back, 
sides  silvery  white,  traversed  by  numerous  inter- 
rupted dark  lines,  the  number  varying  in  different 
specimens. 


112      WHITE    BASS,  SOMETIMES    CALLED    WHITE   PERCH. 

This  fish  would  thrive  well  in  artificial  ponds 
of  moderate  size.  They  would  not  require  treat- 
ment differing  in  any  particular  from  the  two 
preceding  species.  I  would  remark  here,  that 
there  should  be  in  some  part  of  the  pond  a  shoal, 
gravelly  bottom  for  them  to  deposit  their  eggs 
in.  This  arrangement  is  necessary  for  all  the 
fishes  described  by  me  in  this  series,  excepting 
the  Brook  Trout.  It  would  also  be  well  to  place 
in  the  same  pond  with  these  voracious  fishes, 
the  fish  known  as  the  chub  or  dace,  which  are 
prolific,  their  offspring  affording  ah  abundance  of 
food  for  the  large  fish. 

The  White  Bass  spawns  in  the  month  of  May. 
The  treatment  of  their  eggs  and  young  fish,  should 
be  the  same  as  in  the  preceding  species. 

THE    BEST    METHODS   OF   ANGLING. 

Very  little  skill  is  required  in  taking  this  fish. 
He  is  a  greedy  biter,  taking  the  live  or  dead 
minnow  eagerly,  and  at  certain  seasons  will  take 
the  artificial  fly,  or  even  a  piece  of  red  and 
white  rag  fastened  to  the  hook. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

CENTRARCHUS  HEXACANTHUS GRASS  BASS ROACH. 

THIS  fish  for  beauty  is  hardly  excelled  hy  any 
other  species  of  the  Bass ;  and,  as  a  pan  fish,  is 
thought  by  many  to  equal  the  best.  It  is  per- 
fectly adapted  to  artificial  ponds,  as  it  prefers 
sluggish  to  running  waters. 

WHERE    FOUND. 

It  is  found  in  great  abundance  in  the  bays  of 
Lake  Erie,  and  in  the  mouths  of  its  tributaries  ; 
also  in  the  little  lakelets  lying  south  of  the 
lake.  I  presume  it  is  distributed  throughout 
our  entire  Western  country.  Wherever  I  have 


114  GRASS  BASS ROACH. 

found    the     large-mouth    Bass,   I   have    invariably 
found   this  fish. 


DESCRIPTION. 


Forehead  and  back  maculated  and  variegated 
with  dusky  spots,  on  a  ground  of  sea  green.  Simi- 
lar spots  extend  downwards,  upon  the  upper  half 
of  the  body  in  irregular  bands,  on  a  ground  color 
of  light  green  or  yellow.  The  sides  of  the  head 
and  body  are  silvery  and  irredescent;  below  of 
a  delicate  white.  Dorsal,  anal  and  caudal  fins 
bordered  with  a  series  of  irregular  dusky  spots 
more  distinct  in  old  than  in  young  specimens. 
Pectoral  and  ventral  fins,  ferruginous,  or  yellowish. 
Length,  six  to  ten  inches. 

The  cut  is  taken  from  a  living  specimen  which 
I  have  at  the  present  time,  and  will  convey  to 
the  reader  a  good  idea  of  its  appearance.  This 
fish  is  a  small  feeder.  In  this  respect  it  differs 
from  the  Bass  family.  It  will  be  perceived  by 
looking  at  the  cut,  that  the  anus  is  situated  but 
a  little  distance  posterior  to  the  ventral  fins. 
The  anal  fin  being  very  long,  the  abdomen  is, 
therefore,  remarkably  small,  embracing  a  very 
limited  space.  It  is  a  hardy  fish,  and  very  tena- 
cious of  life.  The  specimen  from  which  the 
drawing  was  taken,  was  wrapped  in  a  piece  of 
paper  when  taken  from  the  water,  and  carried  in 


GRASS    BASS ROACH  115 

my  coat  pocket  for  over  four  hours,  and  when 
placed  in  a  bucket  of  water  soon  revived,  and 
seems  at  the  present  time  to  enjoy  excellent 
health.  In  warm  weather,  however,  it  would  not, 
in  all  probability,  survive  so  severe  a  test  of  its 
vital  powers. 

It  is  a  little  smaller  fish  than  the  White 
Bass,  weighing  from  one  to  two  pounds  when 
full  grown.  Spawns  in  the  month  of  May.  Their 
management  the  same  in  all  respects  as  the  pre- 
ceding species. 

BEST    METHODS  OF  ANGLING. 

A  small  minnow  is  the  best  bait  by  far  for 
this  fish,  though  it  will  bite  very  readily  ,  the 
angle  worm,  and  I  have  frequently  taken  them 
with  the  squid. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

CENTRARCHUS    JENEUS ROCK    BASS. 

THIS  is  one  of  the  very  best  of  fishes  for  the 
table;  and,  for  its  size,  can  hardly  be  beaten  as 
a  game  fish.  It  is,  however,  a  small  fish,  rarely 
reaching  a  pound  in  weight.  Nevertheless,  it 
would  be  a  very  valuable  fish  to  introduce  into 
artificial  ponds,  being  hardy,  and  well  suited  every 
way  for  this  purpose. 

The  cut  is  a  very  perfect  representation  of 
this  Bass. 

It  has  a  wide-spread  distribution,  being  found 
from  the  State  of  New  York  through  the  entire 
Western  country.  Spawns  in  the  month  of  May 
on  gravelly  shoals.  Treatment  of  eggs  and  young 
fish  same  as  in  the  preceding  chapter. 


ROCK    BASS.  117 

BEST    METHODS    OF   ANGLING. 

The  Kock  Bass,  like  all  other  species  of  Bass, 
is  a  bold  biter,  taking  freely  the  live  or  dead 
minnow,  or  even  the  angle  worm  does  very  well 
where  minnows  cannot  be  had. 

This  embraces  all  the  fresh  water  Bass  with 
whicn  I  am  acquainted.  There  is,  however,  a 
fish  in  the  Southern  and  Southwestern  States, 
known  by  a  variety  of  names — Carolina  Weak  Fish, 
White  Salmon,  Trout  and  Growler — which  is  un- 
doubtedly a  true  Bass,  and  has  been  described 
by  some  one,  under  the  name  of  Grystes  Salmo- 
nides.  It  is  said  to  be  an  excellent  table  fish, 
and  I  have  no  doubt  would  be  every  way  suit- 
able to  introduce  into  artificial  ponds. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

COMMON    PICKEREL ESOX    RETICULATUS. 

THIS  is  a  common  fish  throughout  the  United 
States,  except,  perhaps,  the  Southern.  We  have, 
indeed,  three  or  four  species  of  this  fish,  but  it 
is  only  the  smaller  species  that  I  would  recom- 
mend as  suitable  for  fish  culture,  and  these  only 
when  we  can  avail  ourselves  of  large  ponds.  I 
will  except  however  from  this  statement  the  fish 
termed  "Long  Island  pickerel"  which  rarely  ex- 
ceeds one  pound  in  weight,  and  has  been  named 
by  Dr.  De  Kay  Esox  Fasdatus. 

I  will  remark  here  that  every  species  of  the 
pickerel,  including  the  Esox  Estor,  or  Mascalonge. 
the  Esox  Ohioensis,  or  the  Pike  of  the  Ohio  river 
and  its  tributaries,  all  belong  to  the  Pike  family, 
and  the  fish  commonly  known  by  the  name  of 
Pike,  found '  in  our  great  lakes,  and  the  fish  found 


COMMON    PICKEREL,  119 

in  the  Ohio  and  its  tributaries,  known  by  the 
name  of  Salmon  belong  to  a  genus  of  fish  termed 
by  naturalists  Lucioperca  and  are  a  true  perch, 
none  of  which  I  would  recommend  as  a  suitable 
fish  for  cultivation,  except  the  Perm,  Flavescens 
or  yellow  perch. 

The  common  pickerel  is  so  well  known  that 
I  need  not  give  a  particular  description  of  it 
It  is  one  of  our  most  voracious  fish  weighing 
from  three  to  fifteen  pounds :  is  considered  by 
many  an  excellent  fish  for  the  table  and  by 
some  as  an  inferior  one.  The  truth  is,  certain 
seasons  of  the  year  it  would  form  a  feast  for 
an  epicure  while  at  other  seasons  it  is  not  so 
good.  This,  however,  is  no  characteristic  of  the 
pickerel  but  in  more  less  degree  is  common  to 
all  fish. 

The  cut  conveys  a  very  correct  idea  of  the 
appearance  of  this  fish,  as  it  does  in  fact  of  the 
whole  family.  It  is  among  our  most  beautiful 
fish,  and  is  a  bold  biter,  giving  excellent  sport 
to  the  angler. 

It  spawns  early  in  the  spring,  seeking  the 
marshy  edges  of  sluggish  water  to  deposit  its 
eggs.  The  same  rules  in  relation  to  procuring 
their  ova  and  their  treatment  that  apply  to  the 
trout  are  proper  in  this  instance,  excepting  that 


7**p 

120  COMMON    PICKEREL. 

the   eggs   need    not   be    placed   in   cold     running 
water. 

The  best  method  of  angling  for  them  is  to 
use  the  live  or  dead  minnow,  though  they  rea- 
dily take  the  spoon  or  squid. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

PERCA  FLAVESCENS YELLOW  PERCH. 

THIS  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  our  fresh 
water  fish.  Its  qualities  as  a  table  fish  rank 
very  fair,  particularly  in  winter  and  spring. 

It  is  a  hardy  fish,  and  being  perfectly  adapted 
to  sluggish  waters,  would  be  among  the  very  best 
to  introduce  into  artificial  ponds. 

When  full  grown  it  weighs  from  one  to  three 
pounds,  being  a  very  suitable  size  for  fish  culture. 

It  is  widely  diffused  throughout  our  country, 
being  found  as  far  North  as  47°  to  my  certain 
knowledge,  and  South  to  38«  N.  Latitude.  In  Mr. 
Herberts  work  on  American  fish,  he  says  this  fish 
has  made  its  way  to  the  waters  of  the  Ohio, 
through  the  Ohio  Canal.  Now  I  will  venture  the 
assertion  "that  the  memory  of  man  runneth  not 
7 


122  YELLOW    PERCH. 

to  the  contrary"  when  they  were  not  abundant 
in  very  many  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Ohio  :  yet 
I  have  no  doubt  many  have  passed  through  in  the 
manner  mentioned  by  Mr.  Herbert,  as  has  been 
the  case  with  many  other  kinds  of  fish. 

The  cut  conveys  a  good  idea  of  its  figure  : 
its  sides  are  yellow  varying  from  greenish  to  a 
golden  hue:  its  back  and  sides  are  banded  with 
seven  or  eight  dark,  vertical  bars :  Pectoral,  ven- 
tral, and  anal  fins  are  of  a  deep  golden  orange 
hue  :  its  dorsal  and  caudal  fins  are  of  a  greenish 
brown  color. 

Spawns  in  the  month  of  May :  is  .a  bold  biter, 
and  gives  good  sport,  tugging  away  at  the  line 
like  a  little  hero,'  for  a  number  of  minutes,  before 
giving  up.  Takes  the  live  or  dead  minnow  eagerly 
and  it  also  will  take  the  angle  worm  very  well. 
Its  treatment,  or  that  of  its  eggs  and  young, 
need  in  no  particular,  differ  from  the  preceding 
species. 


CHAPTER    XVIT. 

POM  OTIS      VULGARI  S S  i;  \      FISH. 

THIS  beautiful  little  fish  has  a  wide  geograph- 
ical range,  being  found  in  almost  every  part  of 
the  United  States.  There  are  several  species  of 
them  but  I  think  there  is  no  preference  in  the 
kind  to  be  selected,  though  perhaps  the  red  eared 
sun  fish,  will  attain  to  the  greatest  size,  and  is 
rather  the  handsomest  fish.  They  are  all  rather 
small,  but  large  enough  for  what  are  termed  "Pan 
Fish:"  rarely  weighing  over  half  a  pound:  they 
are  however  a  fair  flavored  fish  and  well  adapted 
to  introduce  into  artificial  ponds,  being  strictly 
a  pond  fish. 

This  fish  together  with  the  Grass  Bass,  and 
yellow  Perch,  might  all  be  put  together  in  the 


124  SUN    FISH. 

same  pond,  as  their  habits  and  wants  are  pre- 
cisely the  same.  It  spawns  in  the  month  of  .May 
seeking  shoal  water,  with  a  gravelly  bottom. 

The  treatment  of  the  eggs  and  young  fish 
may  be  the  same  as  in  the  preceding  fish. 

It  is  a  greedy  biter,  affording  great  sport  to 
lady  and  juvenile  anglers,  and  prefers  the  com- 
mon angle  worm  to  any  other  kind  of  bait. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 


ANGUILLA    AUCTORUM EEL. 

THIS  most  singular  fish  is  deemed  by  most 
persons  who  have  eaten  it,  as  one  of  the  very  best 
for  the  table. 

It  belongs  to  the  soft  finned  fish,  and  has  no 
ventral  fins,  the  dorsal,  caudal  and  anal,  being 
one  continuous  fin;  its  body  is  long  and  slender 
without  scales :  has  no  gill  covers,  but  simply 
openings  which  are  small  and  lie  a  little  below 
the  insertion  of  the  pectoral  fins.  Its  color  is 
brown  or  greenish  brown  abover  fading  into  a 
dirty  white  below. 

Its   size   varies   from  a  few   ounces   to    several 


126  THE    EEL. 

pounds.  Its  skin  is  remarkably  tough  and  strong, 
and  should  be  removed  before  cooking  the  fish, 

It  has  a  general  distribution  in  the  northern, 
eastern,  and  southern  States.  I  have  seen  a  few 
taken  in  the  tributaries  of  the  Ohio  river,  though 
I  believe  them  to  be  of  a  different  species  from 
the  former.  One  was  caught  last  year  in  the 
Cuyahoga  river,  which  had  undoubtedly  found  its 
way  from  Lake  Ontario  by  the  Welland  Canal, 
and  it  will  not  be  surprising  if  in  the  course  of 
time  they  should  become  quite  plenty  in  the 
upper  lakes  and  their  tributaries.  In  the  months 
of  August  and  September  I  am  told  they  are  very 
abundant  at  the  Niagara  Falls,  crawling  over  the 
wet  stones  in  the  spray  of  the  falling  water, 
where  they  can  be  easily  taken  in  great  numbers. 

They  are  very  tenacious  of  life,  and  will  live 
several  hours  out  of  water,  and  can  be  trans- 
ported great  distances,  by  placing  them  in  wet 
grass ;  this  mode  would  probably  be  the  best 
way  of  transporting  them  alive. 

I  am  not  informed  as  to  their  time  or  habits 
in  spawning.  They  are  very  prolific  however,  and 
are  well  suited  for  culture,  thriving  well  either 
in  still  or  running  water. 

It  readily  bites  the  common  angle  worm,  which 
is  perhaps  the  best  bait  for  capturing  it,  and 
may  be  taken  either  in  the  night  or  day  time. 


THE    EEL.  127 

This  closes  the  list  of  what  I  deem  the  most 
suitable  fish  for  cultivation,  although  there  are 
some  others,  which  may  be  considered  by  some 
persons  as  worthy  a  place  in  such  a  work,  among 
s  which  might  be  ranked  the  different  species  of 
Pimelodus  or  cat-fish,  and  perhaps  some  others, 
but  enough  has  been  said  in  the  preceding 
chapters  to  guide  any  one  wishing  to  make  ex- 
periments with  other  kinds  of  fish,  than  those 
described. 

I  have  also  omitted  many  kinds  of  valuable 
fishr  such  as  the  Salmon,  the  White-fish,  the 
Shad,  and  many  others,  for  the  reason,  that 
strictly  speaking  they  are  not  suited  to  what 
may  be  termed  domestic  culture. 

Should  this  little  volume  meet  with  the  ap- 
proval of  the  public,  I  intend  to  publish  a  second 
edition,  which-  shall  embrace  all  the  valuable 
kinds  of  fish  in  the  United  States,  with  illus- 
trations taken  from  Photographic  drawings,  and 
otherwise  handsomely  embellished  with  views 
of  some  of  our  most  picturesque  scenery,  also  con- 
taining statistics  of  our  important  fisheries 
showing  the  extent  of  their  deterioration,  and 
the  remedy. 

Any  information  relating  to  our  fisheries,  such 
as  statistics  of  their  products  in  different  years, 
embracing  as  long  a  period  of  time  as  possible, 


128  THE    EEL. 

showing  their  increase  or  decrease  &c.,  or  any 
other  information  relating  to  the  subjects  em- 
braced in  this  work  will  be  thankfully  received 
and  due  credit  given. 


CONCLUSION. 

GENTLE  reader  we  have  now  brought  our  lit- 
tle volume  nearly  to  a  close.  I  most  sincerely  wish 
it  had  been  undertaken  by  a  more  able  pen,  and 
my  apology  for  such  an  undertaking  is  that  I 
have  been  solicited  by  persons  from  every  part 
of  our  country  for  information  on  the  subject  of 
fish-culture.  In  fact  the  letters  received  became 
so  numerous  that  it  was  quite  a  tax  on  my  time 
to  answer  them,  and  I  concluded  the  cheapest 
way  to  get  out  of  the  difficulty  would  be  to 
write  this  little  work. 

My  experiments  for  the  last  three  years  have 
been  so  satisfactory,  that  I  can  with  great  con- 
fidence recommend  any  one  having  suitable  waters, 
to  engage  to  some  extent  at  least  in  this  inter- 
esting branch  of  human  industry.  Dr.  Ackley  and 
myself  have  at  the  present  time,  a  large  number 
of  young  trout  which  have  hatched  this  season, 
and  all  'are  doing  well.  We  exhibited  at  the 
State  Fair  held  in  this  city  last  fall,  nearly  one 
hundred  live  trout,  from  six  years  old,  down  to 
the  little  troutlet,  and  all  from  three  years  old 
and  under  were  bred  by  artificial  impregnation. 


130  CONCLUSION. 

For  the  purpose  of  removing  doubts  with  the 
skeptical,  I  here  insert  a  notice  of  our  exhibi- 
tion by  a  visitor  of  the  Fair  Grounds,  also  a 
notice  of  our  fish  ponds  and  nursery  by  the  tal- 
ented and  gentlemanly  editor  of  the  Louisville 
Courier. 

THE      TROUT. 

"ONE  of  the  most  interesting  novelties  on  the 
Fair  ground,  was  a  glass  reservoir,  containing  a 
number  of  young  trout,  artificially  reared  by  Dr. 
Garlick.  The  Doctor  himself  was  there,  apparen- 
tly much  satisfied  with  his  pets,  and  explaining 
the  process  of  rearing  them  to  those  who  had 
not  been  so  fortunate  as  to  read  his  communi- 
cations in  the  Ohio  Farmer.  The  scaly  strangers 
were  really  beautiful  creatures,  sparkling,  and 
changing  their  hues  with  every  motion  of  their 
graceful  bodies,  leaping,  diving,  and  chasing  each 
other  in  the  very  spirit  of  frolic.  Some  had  at- 
tained the  respectable  age  of  three  years  ;  others 
were  mere  flakes  of  gold  and  silver,  darting  about 
like  minnows,  yet  I  saw  no  indications  of  a  can- 
nibal nature  on  the  part  of  the  largest.  Perhaps, 
after  all,  "big  fishes"  do  not  always  eat  "  little 
ones!" 

Dr.  G.  has  given  complete  proof  of  his  suc- 
cess in  the  branch  of  science  to  which  he  is 
devoted,  and  deserves  the  thanks  of  the  com- 
munity, not  only  for  the  instruction,  but  the 
gratification  afforded  by  this  interesting  spectacle." 

A  VISITOR. 


CONCLUSION.  181 

''The  artificial  reproduction  and  cultivation  of 
fish,  have  for  some  time  been  practiced  in  some 
parts  of  Europe.  In  France  it  is  now  carried  on 
to  considerable  extent,  and  the  produce  of  some  of 
the  streams  and  ponds  yields  large  profits.  The 
subject  is  now  attracting  some  attention  in  the 
United  States.  The  New  York  State  Agricultural 
Society,  in  their  last  premium  list,  have  offered 
a  prize  of  $100  for  the  best  essay  on  the 
Production  and  Preservation  of  Domestic  Fish  for 
Ponds. 

Drs.  Garlick  and  Ackley,  known  as  distinguish- 
ed surgeons  of  Cleveland  Ohio,  were  the  first,  we 
believe,  to  introduce  the  artificial  spawning  aid 
domestication  of  fish  in  the  United  States.  Dr. 
Garlick  being  an  enthusiastic  amateur  in  this  line 
commenced  the  business  in  connection  with  'his 
associate  Dr.  Ackley  upon  the  farm  of  the  latter 
two  or  three  years  ago.  They  made  several 
trips  to  Lake  Superior  and  Port  Stanley  in  Can- 
ada, to  procure  trout  for  stocking  their  streams 
and  in  every  instance  were  successful  except  the 
first,  when  they  lost  a  large  number  of  fish  in 
transportation.  After  this,  with  personal  attention 
they  found  that  by  reducing  the  temperature  of 
the  water  in  the  vessels  containing  the  fish  to 
82  degrees  by  the  application  of  ice,  the  respira- 
tion and  circulation  in  the  fish  was  so  reduced 
that  they  experienced  no  difficulty  in  transport- 
ing them  any  distance  with  perfect  success.  In 
this  way  they  have  procured  at  different  times 
150  full  grown  trout.  Feeling  an  interest  in  the 


* 

132  CONCLUSION. 

success  of  this  enterprize,  and  while  visiting 
Cleveland  a  short  time  since,  we  called  on  Drs. 
Ackley  and  Garlick  who  very  kindly  conveyed  us 
to  the  farm  and  fish  nursery,  situated  about  three 
miles  from  the  city.  The  farm  contains  100 
acres,  through  the  timbered  portion  of  it,  runs 
a  ravine  abundantly  supplied  with  never  failing 
springs  of  water.  Across  this  ravine,  dams  have 
been  built  so  as  to  form  three  ponds,  connected 
by  sluce-ways  between  them.  In  the  upper  pond 
the  young  trout  are  confined  by  netting  across 
the  sluice.  The  second  pond  designed  for  the 
fish  two  years  old,  and  the  lower  one  for  the 
fish  after  they  become  so  large  as  to  be  able  to 
protect  themselves  from  the  voracious  appetite  of 
the  older  fish  of  their  race. 

At  the  head  of  a  large  spring  and  near  the 
upper  pond  is  situated  the  hatching  house.  In 
this  house  is  a  tank  four  feet  wide  by  eight  feet 
long,  two  feet  deep.  The  water  is  received  from 
the  spring  into  this  tank,  and  is  discharged  from 
a  pipe  near  the  top  into  the  hatching  boxes, 
ten  in  number,  and  so  arranged  that  the  first  is 
higher  in  the  series  than  the  last,  so  that  there 
is  a  constant  stream  of  water  passing  from  the 
tank  above  through  the  ten  hatching  boxes.  In 
this  tank  we  saw  the  old  pet  fish  "Naiad  Queen" 
the  prolific  mother  of  thousands.  Her  mate  "Tri- 
ton? like  those  of  his  sex  sometimes  in  other 
departments  of  animated  nature,  had  become 
somewhat  unruly,  and  had  been  assigned  his  abode, 
for  the  time  being,  in  one  of  the  ponds  with  the 


CONCLUSION.  133 

family  at  large.  Our  friends  have  so  educated 
and  trained  the  old  queen,  that  she  has  become 
as  tame  as  a  tame  chicken,  and  eat  minnows  from 
our  fingers  readily.  This  fish  was  taken  from 
the  tank  and  placed  in  a  pan  for  our  inspection. 
She  is  like  all  this  family,  truly  beautiful.  She 
measures  about  seventeen  inches  in  length.  Her 
weight  we  now  forget,  but  with  careful  feeding 
can  be  increased  with  astonishing  rapidity.  We 
were  presented  by  the  gentlemanly  proprietors 
with  a  most  beautiful  engraving  of  her. 

It  is  the  intention  of  these  gentlemen  to  have 
some  of  the  old  and  a  number  of  the  young  fish 
on  exhibition  at  the  Ohio  State  Fair  the  coming 
fall.  The  display  of  domesticated  Salmon  and 
Trout,  it  is  said,  constituted  a  most  interesting 
feature  at  the  great  National  exhibition  recently 
closed  in  France. 

Dr.  Garlick  is  now  engaged  in  writing  a  series 
of  articles  on  the  "  Artificial  Reproduction  of 
Fish, "  which  appears  in  the  Ohio  Farmer.  They 
will  be  finally  published  in  book  form,  and  will 
no  doubt  prove  of  immense  value  to  farmers 
and  others  who  own  streams  and  ponds  in  this 
country. 

In  every  State  in  the  Union,  and  in  almost 
every  county,  there  are  numerous  springs  and 
streams  that  with  comparatively  little  labor  may 
be  turned  to  profitable  account  for  the  produc- 
tion of  fish.  Where  brisk,  cool  springs  are  not  to 
be  found  suited  for  trout,  ponds  exist  adapted 
to  various  kinds  of  fish  that  delight  in  still 


134  CONCLUSION. 

water.  In  a  day's  ride  through  some  sections  of 
the  country,  we  have  frequently  met  with  a  dozen 
springs  and  streams  that  might  be  profitably 
employed  in  this  way.  In  France  and  other 
countries  of  Europe,  not  only  trout  and  many  kinds 
of  still  water  fish  are  propagated  to  a  great  ex- 
tent, but  Salmon  by  thousands  are  reared  to  full 
size  in  a  very  short  time.  In  the  northern  and 
eastern  sections  of  our  country,  but  more  par- 
ticularly near  the  Northern  Pacific  coasts,  nume- 
rous places  abound,  most  admirably  adapted  to 
Salmon.  It  is  said  that  a  thousand  pounds  of 
fish  in  proper  places  can  be  produced  at  a  tithe 
of  the  cost  of  raising  an  equal  quantity  of  meat." 
Lovisville  Courier. 

Wishing  the  reader  much  pleasure  every  way, 
but  more  particularly  in  his  experiments  in  Pis- 
ciculture, I  bid  him  a  kind  farewell. 

CLEVELAND,    OHIO,   Jan.   20th,   1857. 


w 

?*'•'•         '  *  . 


APPENDIX. 

I  append  the  following  review  of  Dr.  Bach- 
raan's  paper,  principally  for  the  purpose  of  guard- 
ing persons  from  making  experiments  in  that 
loose  and  uncertain  manner  detailed  in  the  Dr's. 
paper.  However  well  it  may  have  succeeded  with 
him.  I  am  sure  it  would  fail  with  me  in  every 
instance. 

REVIEW  OF  J>R.  BACHMAN'S  EXPERIMENTS. 

LT'RLIE  BERG,  near  Cleveland. 
March  10th,  1856. 

EDITOR  OHIO  FARMER — Dear  Sir:  In  looking  over 
the  January  No.,  of  the  Southern  Cultivator,  I 
find  that  the  editor  claims  for  the  Rev.  JOHN 
BACHMAN,  D.  P.  of  Charleston,  S.  C.,  the  credit  of 
successfully  breeding  fish,  from  artificially  im- 
pregnated eggs,  more  than  half  a  century  ago. 
The  editor  draws  his  conclusions  from  a  paper 
read  by  Dr.  Bachman,  before  the  State  Agricul- 
tural Society,  of  South  Carolina,  at  Columbia,  in 
1855.  In  an  editorial  note,  he  calls  my  attention 
to  Dr.  Bachman's  experiments,  for  the  purpose  £ 
of  correcting  an  erroneous  impression  that  he 


136  APPENDIX. 

supposed  I  was  laboring  under,  in  believing  that 
I  was  the  first,  in  this  country,  to  breed  fish 
from  artificially  impregnated  eggs,  and  desired 
an  early  response. 

The  reason  why  I  did  not  reply  at  an  earlier 
period,  is  that  I  did  not  see  the  December  and 
January  No's.,  of  the  Cultivator,  until  to  day,  and 
shall  therefore,  for  the  present,  confine  myself 
to  a  few  brief  strictures,  on  Dr.  Bachman's  paper. 
It  matters  but  little  who  was  the  first  in  this 
country,  to  breed  fish  artificially,  and  I  am  not 
disposed  to  have  a  controversy  with  any  person,  be 
he  clergyman  or  layman,  for  all  the  credit  there 
is  in  being  the  first  successful  experimentor,  in 
artificial  fish  culture,  in  this  country. 

I  may,  however,  be  permitted  with  a  good 
many  others,  to  express  my  surprise,  that  Dr. 
Bachman's  experiments  and  discoveries,  never 
found  their  way  before  the  public,  until  after 
the  lapse  of  full  half  a  century  after  they  were 
made.  I  trust,  I  shall  be  pardoned  for  saying, 
that  I  have  very  little  confidence  in  the  genuine- 
ness of  all  claims  for  discoveries,  made  over  a 
half  a  century  since,  and  for  the  first  time  giv- 
en to  the  public  last  fall,  particularly  when  they 
are  of  such  vast  importance  as  Dr.  Bachman 
claims  this  to  be,  and  it  is  very  strange,  that  it 
did  not  appear  to  be  of  more  consequence  to  the 


APPENDIX.  137 

Dr.  until  after  some  one  else  had  made  the  same 
experiments  over  fifty  years  afterwards,  and  given 
them  to  the  public. 

I  have  read  Dr.  Bachman's  paper  carefully, 
and  I  am  astonished  at  very  many  of  his  state- 
ments. The  Dr.  made  his  first  experiments  in 
1804,  when  a  school  boy,  and  at  the  time,  did 
not  know  that  any  book  had  been  written  on 
fish,  and  succeeded  in  hatching  five  or  six  thou- 
sand young  fish,  from  the  ova  of  some  fish  known 
;is  the  'Corporal,'  the  parent  fish  having  been  dead 
several  hours.  With  a  commendable  zeal,  and  an 
ardor,  rarely  met  with,  except  in  youthful  minds, 
he  made  his  next  essay  upon  the  Salmo  Fontin- 
alis,  brook  trout,  and  here  his  success  was  more 
marvelous,  than  with  his  Corporal,  for  he  suc- 
ceeded in  vitalizing  their  ova,  at  least  one  month 
before-  they  were  mature.  We  will  give  the  Dr's. 
own  words  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  may  n<ot 
have  had  the  pleasure  of  reading  his  essay. 

'A  cold  spring,  used  for  drinking  purposes,, 
poured  its  stream  from  the  sides  of  an  adjacent 
hill,  at  the  distance  of  about  an  hundred  yards. 
This  we  conducted  to  the  pond  in  zig  zag  lines 
by  which  the  distance  was  increased.  By  dint 
of  digging,  we  formed  shelving  banks,  and  dam- 
ming up  the  stream  in  some  twenty  places  with 
rocks,  we  were  provided  with  so  many  ponds  of 


138  APPENDIX. 

from  6   inches  to   2   or  3   feet   deep.     The   water 
was   very   clear,    and,     after   rilling  the   ponds,    it 
ran  with   a  gentle   murmer  from   one    little   pool 
to  the     other,   until  it    finally     entered   into   the 
pond.    It   was   late   in   summer    before   the   work 
was   completed.     A   single    day   was    only   left   us 
in  our   school   vacation,   the   following   day   being 
the   first  of  September,   we    had   to    leave  for   an 
Academy  in  a  neighboring  State.    We  determined. 
if  possible,  to   stock   our   stream    with   Trout   on 
that  day.     Our  servant  had  to   pass   through   the 
woods   to   the  Trout  brook,   and  carried  no  other 
vessels   but  two   tin  kettles.      He    was   very   suc- 
cessful   in    taking    with    a    hook,    about    twenty 
large    Trout;      but     he     had     been     too     greedy 
for   numbers.     The   day   was   warm,   and,   notwith- 
standing   his   having   changed    the   water    several 
times,  the  Trout  were  all  dead.    The  females  were 
full   of  eggs,  ready  to  be    deposited,   all  the  true 
Trout   family  spawning  in   autumn  instead  of  the 
spring.    We   again   resorted  to  the  spawn,   and  at 
this   time,  with  more   than   a   faint   hope   of  suc- 
cess.     We   separated'  the    eggs   and   placed   them 
together  with  the  milt,  in  all  the    different  holes 
of  the  newly  formed   Trout     brook,   giving   strict 
orders,    that    the   eggs   and    their    young,    during 
our  nine   months   absence,   should    remain   undis- 
turbed.     We    expected    the    eggs  to   hatch   in   a 


APPENBIX.  139 

month,  as  had  been  the  case  with  our  Corporals. 
We  heard  weekly  from  home,  but  were  always 
informed  that  our  present  experiment  had  proved 
a  failure.  The  winter  came  with  its  snows,  for- 
ming ice  in  our  pond  two  and  a  half  feet  thick; 
but  our  cold  trout  stream  was  scarcely  ever  fro/en 
over  to  the  thickness  of  half  an  inch.  On  the 
following  April,  however,  we  received  the  agree- 
able intelligence,  that  many  hundreds  of  our 
young  Trout  had  made  their  appearance,  and 
were  swarming  in  every  trout  hole  in  the  stream. 
We  had  a  trout  breakfast  from  our  brook,  greet- 
ing us  on  the  day  of  our  return,  on  the  following 
autumn.  The  fish  were  not  large,  but,  for  their 
age,  well  grown  and  delicious.' 

Again,  we  have  young  fish  hatched  from  the 
ova  of  dead  fishes,  and  that  too,  at  least  one  month 
prior  to  their  maturity,  the  eggs  being  obtained 
on  the  last  day  of  August.  I  desire  the  reader 
to  bear  in  mind,  that  no  fishes  eggs,  can  by  any 
possible  known  means,  be  impregnated  or  vitaliz- 
ed, until  they  are  mature,  and  this  is  never  the 
case,  until  the  parent  fish  are  engaged  in  de- 
positing their  eggs. 

I  am  well  acquainted  with  the  habits  of  the 
brook  trout,  and  have  been  from  my  boyhood', 
and  for  the  last  three  spawing  seasons,  have  arti- 
ficially spawned  and  impregnated  the  eggs,  from 


140  APPENDIX. 

a  great  number  of  trout,  and  can,  therefore, 
speak  with  a  certainty,  as  to  their  time  of 
spawning.  I  have  never  known  the  brook  trout, 
even  to  commence  making  their  spawning  beds  in 
the  month  of  September.  In  the  early  part  of 
October,  a  few  only,  commence  spawning ;  by  the 
middle  of  the  month,  a  majority  are  through,  and 
begin  to  leave  the  beds  ;  there  will,  however,  be 
trout  running  up  for  the  purpose  of  spawning, 
until  in  November,  and  I  have  spawned  them,  as 
late  as  the  twentieth  of  that  month. 

Admitting  the  parent  fish  were  on  their 
spawning  beds,  when  taken  by  the  Dr.'s  servant, 
it  is  no  less  a  mystery  to  me,  how  he  took  them 
with  a  hook ;  with  the  little  skill  I  possess, 
as  an  angler,  I  never  could  induce  a  trout  to 
take  any  kind  of  bait,  while  engaged  in  spawning; 
and  the  best  anglers  I  have  ever  seen,  tell  me 
the  same  ;  but  perhaps,  if  we  had  sent  our 
servant,  we  might  have  got  twenty,  or  more. 

But  let  us  pass  on.  In  the  following 
autumn,  the  Dr.  returns  from  the  academy,  and 
on  the  day  of  his  return,  is  greeted  with  a 
breakfast  of  the  young  fry.  He  says  they  were 
not  large,  but  well  grown  for  their  age,  and 
delicious.  Gentle  reader,  do  not  call  this  a  fish 
story,  for  I  will  not,  but  I  will  say,  if  the  lad 


APPENDIX.  141 

was  even  a  tolerable  feeder,  and  most  school 
boys  are  apt  to  be,  he  must  have  devoured  at 
least  two  hundred  trout  at  that  breakfast.  I  think, 
Mr.  Editor,  you  must  distinctly  remember  the 
size  of  trout  at  that  age,  as  you  saw  those  we 
exhibited  at  our  County  Fair,  one  year  ago  last 
fall,  but  as  all  your  readers  may  not  know  the 
size  of  trout  at  that  age,  I  will  give  their  di- 
mensions :  '  the  largest  ones  are  about  two  and 
a  half  inches  long ;  their  circumference  a  little 
over  that  of  a  common  sized  goose  quill. 

The  Dr.'s  experiments  did  not  end  with  his 
breakfast.  In  1806,  he  procured  some  of  the 
spawn  of  the  yellow  perch,  and  after  drying- 
them  for  ten  days,  he  placed ,  them  in  water,  the 
product  of  which  was  a  considerable  number  of 
young  fish,  the  Dr.  has  not  told  us  for  what 
purpose  he  dried  the  eggs,  and  then  hatched 
them,  but  I  suppose  he  was  endeavoring  to  hit 
upon  some  method  of  transporting  them,  from 
one  part  of  the  country  to  another,  for  the 
benefit  of  those  who  might  wish  to  engage  in 
fish  culture ;  but  unfortunately,  he  never  made 
this  interesting  experiment  known  for  half  a 
century. 

I  will  close,  by  assuring  such  of  your  read- 
ers, as  may  wish  to  engage  in  fish  culture,  they 
must  pursue  a  course  widely  different  from  Dr. 


142  APPENDIX. 

Bachman's    experiments,    or    certain    failure    will 
be   the   result. 

"Wishing  the  'Doctor  great    joy   with    his   hard 
won  laurels,  for  the  present,   I  bid  him   adieu. 
THEODATUS  GAELICK. 


THE  OHIO  FARMER. 


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tiille  (Ky.)  Courier. 

THE  OHIO  FARMHU— This  paper  has  become  one  of  the  permanent  institutions  of 
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from  the  valuable  suggestions  of  these  writers  he  will  learn  much  about  flocks  and 
herds,  by  which  to  improve  his  own.  The  Horticulturist  and  the  Gardener,  will  find 
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